It's You and Me, Kid
by latenightsandcitylights
Summary: Stiles and Emma had been best friends since birth. They've been through everything together, including all the supernatural drama that comes with living in Beacon Hills. Emma has been in, well, like, with Stiles for quite some time. And for a minute there, it seemed that he was too. But then Malia happened.
1. Dinner with the Sheriff

This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't a part of her plan. She could handle him fawning over her best friend, the unattainable Lydia Martin, but a girl that actually reciprocated his feelings? That wasn't something she could deal with. Malia had come out of nowhere and stolen him. They were so close, at least she thought they were. Then Stiles and Malia, in Eichen House. Together. The thought was enough to make her skin crawl.

Emma flopped down on her light pink bed and sighed. It was stupid how important this seemed. After everything that had happened in the last year. Scott being bitten. Kate. Peter. Jackson and the whole Kanima debacle. Gerard. The Darach. The Alpha Pack. Nogitsunes. Kitsunes. Aiden. Allison. Just thinking about the last year made her head spin, but that last thought got to her. Allison was gone. They had all watched her die. Bleeding out in Scott's arms. Her green eyes filled with tears as she remembered the funeral. Crying with Lydia. Isaac leaving. Watching Scott try to remain a strong Alpha when he was hurting worse than everyone else. It hurt, hell, it still hurts.

So after all that, after losing one of the most important people in her life, she had the audacity to feel sad because a boy didn't like her back. On the other hand, it wasn't just some boy. This was Stiles Stilinski. They had been best friends since birth. He'd been there when her dad moved out, and she'd helped him when his mom died. They had been through so much and she'd fallen for him. Hard.

She threw her blonde hair up into a bun and looked at the picture on her nightstand. It was right before the last lacrosse game last season. Stiles was in full uniform, his lacrosse stick in one hand, and the other was thrown around Emma's shoulder. She was dressed in a maroon sweater and a white scarf, with her left arm wrapped around Stiles' waist. In the picture, Emma was smiling at the camera, while Stiles was looking at her, laughing at a joke she'd made. She smiled at the picture. It seemed so long ago. Before Stiles grew his hair out. Before the Darach kidnapped her friends' parents. Before Stiles became possessed. It was back when she thought she had a chance with him. Before Malia.

Putting the photo back, she decided she couldn't just sit up in her room waiting for her friends to return from Mexico with Derek Hale. She needed to get out. That's when she decided to text Sheriff, who was working the late shift at the station, down the street.

To: Papa Stilinski

Running out to Toby's. Do you want a burger & fries? I won't tell Stiles.

He responded back seconds later.

From: Papa Stilinski

Thank you, I knew I always liked you the best.

To: Papa Stilinski

See you in ten!

With that she slipped on her Nikes, threw on a sweatshirt and hopped into her mom's car and backed out of the driveway. She thought about how lonely she had been. With her friends on their Mexican adventure and her mom in Manhattan on business, there was no one around. She'd stayed behind to hold down the fort, but the supernatural side of Beacon Hills had been quiet, leaving her, for the first time in a whole year, with nothing to do.

As she ordered thoughts of Stiles fought their way back into her mind. Before the werewolf drama began, this had been their old hang out spot. They'd come here the nights Scott was at the animal clinic, get their usual order of curly fries and drive around in his jeep. She thought about when they were fourteen and decided to get their first over with on the blue picnic table out front, when they celebrated Stiles making the lacrosse team (sure he didn't play but, hey, he still made the team). She shook the thoughts out of her head as she grabbed her dinner from the miserable drive-thru attendant. That was eons ago, a different time, when things weren't this complicated.

She turned up the music in her car to drown out her thoughts. She had done enough thinking about him for one day. Except there was one thing she couldn't shake. He had kissed her. Right before she dunked him into the ice bath to save his dad. She flashed back to that night.

The two of them were standing in Deaton's office while everyone else was preparing the tubs of ice. "Stiles, you can't do this, please don't do this," she begged even though it was hopeless.

"Emma, I have to, it's my dad, I can't just do nothing. He's-" he ran his hand over his mouth. Stiles gave her a sad look, a hint of tears in his eyes mirrored hers.

"I know, I just had to say it. It's selfish really, but Stiles I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you." She pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. "So promise me you'll be okay."

"Hey," he snaked his arms around her waist, "I'm not going anywhere." His hazel eyes looked into her green ones as he leaned forward. Their lips met in a quick sweet kiss. And for that minute, she forgot about the impending doom, werewolves, Darachs, about everything. In that moment, she felt safe. As they pulled apart, his hands moved from her waist to interlock with her own. "You and me, pal." He forced a chuckle.

"You and me, kid," She giggled back. This had been something they had said to each other since they were kids. Whenever they made up after a fight, the one apologizing would utter this phrase, securing the fight as finished.

She came back from the memory as she pulled into her favorite spot at the police station. Being friends with Stiles had warranted many trips down to his father's station, and seeing as the closest was the Sheriff's, the second closest parking spot was deemed as her favorite. Producing another sigh, she cut the engine, and walked inside.

She waltzed into the Sheriff's office, noticing he was on the phone with someone, she began silently unpacking their meal. He sent her a grateful smile as see saw the fries and burgers.

"Okay," he sighed, clearly annoyed with the person on the other end, "just get home soon, Stiles."

"Busy night?" Emma began as she stuffed a curly fry into her mouth, and plopped down in the chair.

"Uneventful, thankfully." The Sheriff unwrapped his burger, "how's the supernatural?"

"Quiet, for the first time in forever," she sighed for what felt like the millionth time that night. "Which is a good thing because the whole supernatural crowd went, ah, camping, this weekend."

"It's nice," he nodded, "but Emma?"

"Yeah?" she answered confused by the seriousness in his voice.

"Judging by the choice of food, I'm guessing the stomach flu is all better," she looked at her shoes, "or would I be right if I said you weren't actually sick?"

"Whaaat?" she started to lie, but he raised a speculative eye brow and she knew she had been caught, "you would be right."

"Why didn't you go, it seemed like an important _camping_ _trip_?" He put air quotes around camping trip, letting her know he knew more than anyone wanted him to about the latest mission.

Running a hand through her ponytail, she decided to tell the Sheriff everything that had been bothering her. "Um, well, okay. So you know you've been like a dad to me right?" She waited for him to answer until she continued.

He smiled, and nodded, "I know, Sweetie, and I've treated you as my own kid."

"Okay and if I tell you, you have to swear to secrecy. You can't tell anyone," she looked him in the eye, "especially Stiles."

He began to look worried, "what is it that's bothering you so much?" He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's just that, well, I have this monstrous crush on," she chocked on the next word, "Stiles."

The Sheriff's face softened. He wasn't shocked, anyone who knew those two kids, knew they had a _special_ bond. His right hand squeezed her shoulder as he leaned over his desk. He opened his mouth to speak but was at a loss for words. He finally decided on, "and that's a bad thing?"

She let out a chuckle at his confusion. "It wasn't at first. I mean we've always been close. I mean he kissed me for crying out loud. But then..." she trailed off, not being able to bring herself to **her** name.

"But then he," the Sheriff stopped talking when he saw a tear fall. He walked around his desk and put an arm around the girl he had watched grow up. He'd seen her get into so much trouble with his son. He'd see her hurting when her dad left, and he'd seen her be so strong when Stiles needed her when Claudia passed. She didn't have a very good home life, and he'd always kept an eye on her. It hurt him to see her like this.

"I mean it's not like I'm in love with him, or we ever actually talked about it after. But it's not like we had a chance to, either," she wiped the tears away. "I'm sorry, I'm dumping all this on you."

He patted her head, "It's okay, Emma."

"It's just that I really don't have anyone to really talk to about this."

"Well what about Lydia? You guys are pretty close, and she might have a better understanding of how you feel," he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, "you being a girl and all."

"I love Lydia, don't get me wrong. It's just that she doesn't have the best track record with guys and she's kinda busy with her whole Banshee thing now. She's really overwhelmed. And it's not like I can call up Stiles and talk to him. And the one person who I go to for advice isn't here anymore and I don't know what to do." Her ramblings were becoming hysterical, "She's gone, and now I feel like I'm losing him too!"

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be alright. You're not losing him. You're really important to Stiles. You've got to know that, and he doesn't want to lose you either."

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. "Thank you for listening to me. I know it must sound stupid to be this upset about something so trivial after everything that's happened."

"It's not stupid. Not even a little bit." He smiled at her.

She grabbed her purse and swung it over her shoulder. "I should probably get going, we do have school tomorrow."

"Alright you stay out of trouble now." He laughed and she waved goodbye. But before she could exit the office he stopped her, "Hey Emma?"

"What's up?" she furrowed her eye brows.

"If it helps, I don't think him and Malia are going to last long." He winked at her and she smiled gratefully. "I like you a hell of a lot more, anyway."

She laughed and shook her head, "thank you, I needed that." And with that she headed home.


	2. I'm a Mess

"Kate is alive? Kate as in Kate Argent? The same one whose casket I watched be lowered into the ground is alive and kicking?" I shook my head. "Lyd, it's just not possible."

"Well, you're going to have to believe it. Because it's the truth." She said forcefully into the phone.

"Did you see her?" I asked, skeptically. I had a hard time believing the woman who had her throat slashed by Peter Hale was alive. It couldn't be possible.

"The hunter's said it and so did Scott."

I laughed at her reasoning, "the people that threatened to kill you if he didn't come to that conclusion, we're taking their word for it? We're trusting those guys?"

"No, but I trust Scott. If he thinks she's alive, then I do too. Don't you trust Scott?"

I sighed in annoyance, "I do, it's just that I don't think we should jump the gun. We've all been through so much I just don't think we should be rushing into anything without being a hundred percent sure."

She chuckled knowingly, "Rough couple of days on your own?"

"How'd you know?" I ran a hand through my hair.

"Please I'm your best friend. You don't think I know when something's wrong with you? You're doing that thing where you push everyone away. I thought we were passed that. So tell me," she ordered. She wasn't going to let this go. And what Lydia Martin wants, she gets.

"I've just been thinking-"

She cut me off, "about Stiles?"

"Among other things." We went silent for a minute. "But what's your opinion on Malia?"

"We don't like her," I could hear her smiling through the phone.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" I giggled.

"Once or twice," her tone then became serious, "now I'm going to tell you something you're not going to like, but you need to hear it. We need her. She's a werecoyote and we need her on our side. She's going to help us. Emma, she's a part of the pack now."

I had to admit, that stung a little. But it did put everything into perspective. And as usual, Lydia was right, "I know, it's just-"

"Hey, Em, I know you kissed and then she took him. But don't do this. You're throwing yourself a pity party, and it's got to end now. We need you, so put on your big girl pants and pretend you're over it. We can eat cartons of ice cream and watch romantic comedies when this supernatural problem is over. Goodnight." And with that she was gone, and for what felt like the first time in my life, I was rendered speechless.

I looked at my ringing cell phone to see the Sheriff's station on my caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hello ma'am, is Emma Dunn there?" The voice of Deputy Parrish filtered through my phone.

"Um, yes this is her," I said unsure of what to expect.

"No need to worry, but the Sheriff is requesting your assistance on a case, can you come down to the station?"

"I'll be there in five," I said quickly grabbing my bag and keys.

Whipping into the station, I barely gave the car time to stop before I was running into the station. I barged in to find the Sheriff waiting for me. "What's wrong?"

He grabbed me by the arm and led me to one of the rooms where observes interogatioins and just pointed through the two way mirror.

I squinted, "is that?"

"Derek Hale," he confirmed my theory, "what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, he looks so young," I looked to him, "what did Scott and Stiles say?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "I, uh, called you first."

"Sheriff, I'm flattered but this is a little out of my area of expertise. I'll call the boys." I sighed, so much for a normal school year.

So I sat watching Derek Hale until Stiles came through the door followed closely by Scott. "You found him? Where?"

"They found him at his house, which was knocked to the ground. He's really shaken up and confused," I grabbed his arm, "It's Derek, but he's younger. It's like he hasn't lived the last eight years."

Stiles looked at me like I just told him the sky is blue, like Derek Hale pulling a Benjamin Button was a normal Monday activity, "yeah Em, we know."

The Sheriff rolled his eyes, but I was outraged that I had been kept in the dark yet again. I hit him on the back of his head, "You know? So when you went to Mexico and found teenage Derek Hale, you didn't think I should know?"

The Sheriff stepped in before Stiles could say anything, "I thought you went camping."

"We were, in Mexico," Stiles flailed, and I along with Scott and Sheriff rolled my eyes.

As the Sheriff went on about his time travel theories and later went outside, I noticed Stiles. He was sitting on his father's desk and had a look on his face that I was very familiar with. He had a slight frown and his eyes were squinted at an envelope. This was his worried face, and in the last year alone I had seen it at least a thousand times. No good ever came from it. I nodded to Scott to signal I would take care it, and he left after giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

I carefully walked over to Stiles, who hadn't stopped looking at the envelope in his hand. I saw the bright red stamp that read "Final Notice." I knew after the whole Nogitsune debacle, the Stilinskis' were struggling but I had no idea it was this bad. I rested my head on his shoulder, "do you wanna talk about it?"

"The hospital, Eichen house, all the bills, they're killing him," he said.

"Don't," I said grabbing his hand.

"What?" he rested his cheek on the top of my head, the confusion evident in his voice.

"Blame yourself. I know that's what you're doing. "It's not your fault Stiles. So please don't on top of everything else that's happening blame yourself for this. You can't fix everything. You've said so yourself, you can't save everyone."

He huffed and walked away from me, "Emma, you don't understand. My dad can't deal with this. We can't pay these bills. You," he sighed, "you wouldn't be able to understand."

"Stiles, of course I understand," I grabbed the sleeve of his plaid shirt pulling him back towards me.

"No you don't," he spat, "Emma your mom makes a lot of money. You just don't get what it's like to have to worry about stuff like this."

My eyes grew wide. I didn't know what to do. Offering help would only piss him off even further, but he was right. I didn't know what it felt like. My mom was an environmental engineer. She traveled the United States helping to develop clean water resources and other various things to help save the environment. Bottom line, she made bank. "What are you saying? That I'm just a spoiled rich girl? Stiles, sure I might not know what it's like to be struggling financially but come on give me a little more credit than that."

"Emma."

"No don't, Stiles, I get what it feels like. It's like everything's falling apart. Like the walls are closing in and you can't breathe and no matter what you do you just can't make it better. It's like you just keep messing everything up." Stiles became blurry as tears filled my eyes.

"Em, I'm-" he grabbed my hand, but I pulled it away roughly.

"Go to hell," and then I ran my stubborn little ass out of the station before he could say anything else. _I'm a mess_, was the only thought running through my head the whole way home.


	3. Getting in Fights and Making Friends

"117 million dollars?" I said in disbelief as I plopped down on the Alpha's living room couch. "Who knew Derek is so rich?"

"Was, he was rich," he let out a small laugh as he sat down next to me.

"And these Berserkers? They're working for Kate?" He nodded slowly. "Okay but are they brainwashed or can we maybe turn them against her."

"They're not like werewolves, and the rest of us. It's like they can't think for themselves."

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath I replied, "Great, just what Kate needed, evil minions."

"But the good thing that came out of tonight is that we got Derek back to normal. Maybe he can figure all this out." Scott said hopefully, always the optimist, that boy.

"But aren't you at all curious why someone would steal millions of dollars from the Hale family? Why not just use their supernatural powers or knowledge to rob a bank? Obviously, this is someone with ties to the Hale family. Someone who wants revenge," I rambled on, "maybe it's Peter. I mean I know he was in there with Kate when it happened, but you know that guy has always been a skeeze. I think he just hired someone to steal his money, you know make it look like he's a victim so we'll trust him and then he'll stab us in the back later on."

I noticed Scott had been laughing at my conspiracy theory, "You sound like Stiles."

At the sound of his name, my chest tightened, "Okay, one: as much as it pains me to say this, Stiles is right, we can't trust that guy, and two: I don't think comparing me to Stiles is a compliment, Scotty."

I hated that he could hear my heartbeat, that he could probably feel my emotions. It was such an invasion of privacy. How was I supposed to pretend I was fine, if Scott could tell I was faking it? "You heard our fight earlier, didn't you?"

Guilt was written all over his face, "I'm sorry, it's just he's my best friend. I was worried, and wanted to know what was wrong with him. Once I started I couldn't stop." He put his arm around my shoulder, and I put my head in the crook of his neck.

"It's fine, I probably would've done the same thing," I wrapped my arm around his stomach, "how bad was it?"

Nervous laughter escaped his lips, "it wasn't good that's for sure. I know it's been a little hard because of," he looked down at me, "well I don't have to tell you how you feel. But I know it's going to get better."

"I know, it's just that it's taking a little longer than I thought it would."

"It's you and Stiles, everyone can see that it makes sense," Scott gave me a sympathetic look.

"It's okay, I'm going to get over it," I said emphatically. "Anyway," I was desperate to change the subject, "are you excited for lacrosse to start back up again?"

He nodded, but I didn't need werewolf hearing to tell he was lying, "come on Scott, God knows we need a distraction, and lacrosse is just that. It'll take your mind off the shit show that is the Beacon Hills supernatural community."

"You're right, you still managing the team this year?" he said as his phone alerted him of a text message.

"Of course, do you think you guys could actually win without me?" But I noticed Scott was too busy with whoever texted him to hear what I was saying, even if he was a werewolf.

"Is that the giiiiiirlfriend?" I teased.

"She's not my girlfriend, but yes, it's Kira," he blushed slightly.

"Scott come on it's obvious you two are totally into each other, so what's stopping you from dating her?" I pried.

He gave me a look that stopped me from pushing him further. It was Allison. Sure they had broken up months before she died, but he still felt loyal to her. All I could think to say was, "She always wanted you to be happy. She used to say that all the time. And Kira's a great girl."

"I know that. And I'm totally into her. I'll work on it, okay? But hey I gotta see what's up. You good to get home?" He asked.

'I'm fine, you go save the day, Mr. Alpha." We both exited the house, and I watched as Scott zoomed off towards Kira's house on his motorcycle. I walked around the corner to my house. As I approached my two story tan house I noticed the familiar powder blue Jeep parked in my driveway. I knew this was coming. He was here to talk, something that I wasn't necessarily ready for. But this was Stiles, and as much as I wanted to stay mad at him, I knew once he started apologizing, it would be nearly impossible.

His car was empty, meaning he used his key and was probably waiting right inside for me. I paused on my porch and took a deep breath. Bracing myself for the inevitable confrontation I turned the brass doorknob and entered my house.

"Stiles that key is for emergencies not for you to just show up whenever you want," I said slamming my purse on the kitchen counter. He made his way into the kitchen with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He looked scared, as he should be.

"You've never had a problem with it before," he finally said stopping two feet in front of me. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he waited for me to say something.

_Stay strong, _I thought. "What? Were you not finished yelling at me?"

His eyes widened in surprise. If he thought I was going to let this go, just roll over and let him get away with it, he was wrong, "Emma, I'm sorry, I di-"

"Oh you didn't mean it? You're sorry?" I grew louder, "oh, then it's okay. Yeah, biting my head off when I'm trying to help you, completely acceptable."

"Emma, really I am sorry. I just need you back," Stiles cautiously put a shaky hand on my shoulder.

I swatted it away, "Don't." I tried to walk away but he grabbed my hand.

"Emma," I opened my mouth but this time Stiles stopped me, "no listen to me. I said something stupid. Something I didn't mean, and I regret it, I really do. If I could I would take it back but I can't. I've said so many stupid things over the years, I mean I say more stupid things in one day than most people say in a lifetime." Again he waited for me to forgive him, but I was too stubborn to give in just yet. I could see him searching for something to say when he suddenly opened his mouth, "I know you're not just some spoiled rich girl. I know you could understand what I'm going through, but can we just let this be my thing to deal with. And yes, I know I can't fix this on my own, maybe it's my ego or something, I don't know, but I don't want to you have to worry about me on top of everything else. I just really want you to be my friend again."

I looked down at my shoes, fully preparing to forgive him, but Stiles being Stiles, he just kept talking, "So I guess I'm just a boy standing in front of a girl asking her to forgive him." Still looking at my shoes, I couldn't help but crack a smile at his reference to _Notting Hill_, an old movie I'd made him watch me a billion times over the course of our friendship. "Hey is that a smile I see?"

"You're an idiot, you know that?" I let out a small laugh.

"I've been told once or twice," he laughed along, pulling me into a hug, "so are we okay?"

"I guess, I mean who else would put up with you. It's you and-"

"Stiles are you guys done yet?" A familiar voice asked from behind me. Malia.

I let out a semi-psychotic laugh, and Stiles fidgeted uncomfortably, "you have got to be kidding me." I twirled around to see Malia standing in my kitchen trying not to look in my direction. I had made it clear that she wasn't my favorite person in the world, and up until now, the feeling seemed mutual. "You brought her? To my house?"

"Emma, just hear me out for a minute," Stiles begged.

"This better be good Stiles."

"She just wanted to come over to spend some time with you," I raised a skeptic eyebrow, "I swear, she knows that you're my best friend and Lydia's too. She just wants to be your friend too."

"Really?" I looked back at Malia. She just nodded, her eyes pleading for help. For the first time I didn't see her as a werecoyote or the girl who stole Stiles. I saw her for what she was, a girl who didn't have any friends that weren't creatures of the night or a Stiles. As much as it pained me to admit it, I felt bad for her. She had lost her mother and her sister and lived as a coyote, maybe I could give her a chance. And if I didn't, wouldn't I just be forcing Stiles to pick a side? And it scared me to think that he might choose her. "You just want to be friends with me?"

"Emma, I don't have many friends here, or anywhere. I'm not so good with people yet. But you are. Stiles talks about you all the time. I thought maybe we could try being friends too?"

I was totally speechless. I just stood there blinking. Malia wanted to be friends? I was prepared for her to kill me, sprout claws and scratch my eyes out, but this? This was nothing I was expecting. "Um, yeah we could try that," I sputtered.

She gave me a small smile, and Stiles let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said.

"We'll go out to breakfast tomorrow before school. I'll pick you up," she nodded enthusiastically, "but where do you live?"

"Just pick me up at Stiles' place," I nodded.

"Okay, yeah, I can do that. I'll be there around 7:30," I looked at the clock, it was already ten, "so I'll see you guys tomorrow," I gestured to the door.

Stiles hung back as Malia walked out the red front door, "have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

I rolled my eyes, "not nearly enough."

"Seriously, Emma, thank you for this. It means a lot, to the both of us."

"You owe me Stilinski. Big time."

"Anything, you name it," he kissed my cheek and shut the door behind him.

I felt fire under check where Stiles' had touched his lips. I groaned as I launched myself onto my bed. I was already dreading the awkwardness that would be tomorrow morning. What did I get myself into?

Hello, everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for reading my story and a special shout out to those who took the time to review. I didn't think it would gain this many followers in such a short amount of time, or that people would read it at all. The plot will pick up soon, and Emma will begin to actually take part in the supernatural occurrences this season, just stay with me! So thank you again, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Breakfast with the Werecoyote

My shaking hand moved the gear shift into park. I sat in Stiles' driveway, giving myself a peptalk. I was trying to build up some courage to actually follow through with this plan. What seemed like an eternity later, I opened the door and got out of the car. Before approaching the house, I adjusted my maroon t-shirt, flattened out the wrinkles in my floral skirt, and tugged on the sleeves of my leather jacket. With a sense of false confidence, I flipped my hair over my shoulder, and made my move. I must say, my strut to the door rivaled that of Lydia Martin.

I stood on the stoop, my hand extended to knock, but before I had the chance, and one almost panic attack later, the Sheriff came hustling out the door, "Jesus, Emma! What are you doing here?" His eyes were wide

I coughed, trying to hold back laughter, "I'm here to pick up Malia, believe it or not."

He gave me a double take, "I'm never going to be able to understand you kids, but I have to run, big case."

"Good luck!" I called out and made my way into the house. "I'm here!" I called out, even though Malia and her supernatural powers probably already knew that.

"Down in a minute," she hollered back to me. I continued into the kitchen, where I hopped up on the counter and tapped my fingers against my knees. Stiles, clad in his classic plaid flannel and jeans meandered into the kitchen, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Oh my god it's you again," he feigned disgust and I threw a dish towel at him. "Hey Em, how's your morning going?"

"It's terrific," I said with a huge grin.

"Is that so?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, but it may be because I'm having a stellar hair day," I said as I flirtatiously flipped my blonde curls over my shoulder, again.

As our laughter died out, Malia entered the kitchen, "ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah let's head out, don't want to be late for lacrosse practice," I got down from the counter and followed her out to the car.

My hand was on the black door handle as I heard Stiles call out from the door, "look at that, my two favorite girls getting along."

Malia rolled her eyes, but smiled back at him. I nodded and sent him a small wave, before getting into my mom's SUV.

"Um, nice car," Malia said carefully.

"Thanks, it's my mom's but I use it when she's on business, which is usually most of the time," I said pulling out of Stiles' driveway. The silence in the car was killing me, "hey Malia, you can put on whatever radio station you want."

It became even more awkward when Malia fiddled with the radio dials, clearly not knowing any stations to put it on, "me and Lyd always listen to 94.7, it's our favorite. It plays a lot of pop music. You know, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Maroon5 that kinda thing, you like that kind of music?" I rambled, tapping my fresh pink manicure on the steering wheel, silently begging the light to turn green.

"Oh yeah, totally my favorite too. I love Kathy Perry," she faked.

My laughter filled the car, "_Katy_ Perry."

"Oh yeah that's what I meant, what did I say?" she tried to cover up the fact that being a coyete for the last eight years didn't put her totally behind in every aspect of her life.

"Mhm, I love Kathy Perry too," my voice was dripping with sarcasm. But it seemed that even though she dating Stiles, she hadn't firmly grasped the concept of sarcasm, "I was just joking."

"Yeah I know, I just," she sighed. I looked at her expectantly, silently urging her to continue. And when she didn't, I flailed my arm so maybe she would pick up on a less subtle hint. "I just don't know how to talk to you."

"It's okay, we can work on it," I told her, turning into the parking lot of the local coffee shop. She just nodded. "Do you mainly just listen to Stiles' music?"

"Yeah, he's showing me how to be human, so he shows me how to do everything the way he does," she explained taking off her seatbelt.

"So do you like all that Young the Giant stuff he plays in his Jeep?" She shook her head and I just mouthed a silent "oh."

After a surprisingly brief wait in line, it was our turn to order, "Go ahead Malia, I'll pay." She looked at me, the same way she had looked frantically at the radio dials, "does Stiles order for you here too?" She gave a weak nod. I turned to the barista and ordered Stiles' go to order for Malia, a large hot coffee cream no sugar, and a large French vanilla iced coffee with cream and extra sugar for myself.

After our orders were ready, we sat at a small table by the window. Malia took a sip of her coffee and by the look on her face, she liked it about as much as Stiles' taste in music. "You know if you don't like it, you don't have to drink it."

She sighed in relief, "it's just so blah, and your's smells amazing," she eyed my drink.

"Here," I offered it to her, "I drink his order all the time anyway, you should have some real coffee for once."

We switched cups, and just as I was taking a sip she blurted out, "when did you and Stiles break up?"

I choked on the hot coffee, spitting it out on the table. Still coughing, I replied, "we never dated," my heart was racing and I quickly tried to end the conversation, "I don't think we should be talking about Stiles."

She looked genuinely puzzled, "why not he talks about you all the time?"

Her last statement gave me butterflies, "what does he say about me?"

She glared at me suspiciously, "nothing really. Just stories, whenever something reminds him of you. Which is a lot. I swear he's told me a million times how when you were seven you jumped off his bed and broke your arm-"

"And then he sprained his wrist because he thought breaking his arm would make me feel better?" I laughed at the memory. Stiles wasn't the brightest kid in the world.

"Um, yeah, that's the story," she played with her straw, "but I thought we weren't going to talk about him."

My laughter stopped immediately, "no you're right. I said that."

An awkward and mildly uncomfortable silence fell over us once again. I tried multiple times to start a conversation, but I just couldn't think of anything to say. I opened and closed my mouth, and she looked around the coffee shop. I started nervous sweating when I realized that by taking the topic of Stiles off the table, I had taken away the one thing we had in common. Finally I was able to form words, "well, clearly we're incapable of talking about anything but Stiles," I let out a strangled laugh, "so…"

"You like him," it wasn't a question, or an accusation. It was just an observation.

"What, are you crazy?" I focused on my heartbeat praying it would remain steady.

"Really? Then why do you get pissed every time me and Stiles are around you?" she raised her eyebrows.

"I'm eternally pissed off at Stiles. It's kind of our thing."

"It's okay," she nodded understandingly, "it wouldn't matter if you did anyway. He likes me." I stared at her unsure how to respond. So was this her plan all along? Trick Stiles and me into thinking she wanted more friends, then get me alone, and threaten me.

"I know that Malia," I was genuinely confused at the turn our conversation had taken, "I don't want your boyfriend. So did you really want to be my friend or was this just an interrogation?"

"I really do want to be your friend. But here's the thing, I'd really prefer if you didn't try to flirt with Stiles when I'm not around," she spat.

"Relax, I don't flirt with him, I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend, so put the claws away," I hissed at her.

"Good I'm glad we're on the same page. Now let's go, we don't want to be late for lacrosse practice," she gave me a friendly smile and picked up her cup. She left me shell-shocked at the table. This girl had gone from wicked werewolf to acting like my best friend in .2 seconds; she was giving me whiplash. I shook my head and followed her to my car.


	5. Lacrosse Practice

"Dunn! You're late!" Coach Finstock yelled as I ran down the field towards the boy's lacrosse team.

"Sorry Coach," I smiled breathlessly as I finally reached the team, "I'm just running fashionably late."

"Well, stop spending so much time on your clothes and help me manage the team!"

"But Coach," I continued to his annoyance, "as the only girl on the team, I think it is my job, nay, my obligation, to dress to impress. Wouldn't want the team to suffer because their manager doesn't look her absolute best, now do we?"

"I don't get paid enough for this," she shook his head at my antics, "just get the guys checked in."

"Alright gents, form an orderly queue it's time for attendance!" I hollered taking my clipboard from the bench.

I grabbed a pen as they ran into a line in front of me, "Name, grade, and desired position?"

"Liam Dunbar. Freshmen. Midfield." I looked up to see an unfamiliar boy. He was definitely new to the school. He looked young, clearly a freshmen, but he was cute nonetheless.

"Well Dunbar, one of our star mids moved away," I pushed thoughts of Isaac out of my head and winked, "think you're up for the challenge?" I flirted, not looking away from his big blue eyes. I had no clue what took over me, but unrequited love was a bitch, and as a beautiful strawberry blonde once said, I needed a distraction.

"I guess it's my lucky day," he chuckled a little, "an open position and a pretty team manager."

I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and giggled, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Move along freshmen, everyone knows that position is mine," Stiles forced Liam out of the way.

"Bye Liam," I said in a sing-songy tone of voice. "Name, grade, and desired position?" I looked up into Stiles' hazel eyes.

"Stiles," he answered a smile playing at his lips.

"Hm, what an interesting name," I wrote his name on the list in my loopy handwriting, "and what grade are you in, Stiles?"

"I'm a junior, almost seventeen," he leaned in closer, "not to brag or anything, but I'm almost old enough to see rated R movies."

"Oh wow, maybe you can take me sometime, you know when you're seventeen and Beacon Hills new starting center mid," I winked at him filling in the rest of information. I knew Malia was in the stands and probably seething with rage, but that didn't matter. I was still reeling from our eventful breakfast and didn't know where we stood; friends or enemies, or somewhere in between. But all I know is that flirting with Stiles felt really nice.

"So do you flirt with all the lacrosse players?" I could tell he was trying to play it off as a joke, but for a brief moment his eyes showed genuine concern, but it was gone before my brain could process it.

A small smile found its way on my face, "only the cute ones," he smiled but before he could say anything else, I cut him off, "next!"

He began walking behind me toward where Liam was standing. As Greenburg stepped closer to me, ready to check in I turned back to Stiles one last time, "Oh and Stiles?"

"Yeah?" he said nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good luck!" He just winked at me, and I felt my cheeks turn red. I shook my head and turned back around to the rest of the team, "What do you want Greenburg?"

Practice had been going on for a while, and it was clear there was a new star on the team. The young Liam Dunbar was an excellent athlete, and without question would make the team. Stiles, well, he was his usual goofy self, but I had to say, he had stepped it up a lot this year. He would definitely being on the field this season. Scott. Last year, his werewolf powers launched him into high school stardom. He was team captain, but today he was holding back.

Right now it was 2v1, Scott and Stiles and the dynamic duo had been crushing the competition. That was until none other than Liam Dunbar took the field. You'd think the team captain (and resident werewolf), and well Stiles, would be able to stop the little freshmen but that was not the case. Liam made it past the two and scored.

Coach sighed angrily, and I agreed with him. Scott needed to unleash the beast, so to speak, if we were going to have a chance this season. We didn't have Jackson or Isaac, and as good as Stiles was getting, we needed Scott at his full potential.

I walked up next to Coach, "give them another chance, I'm sure they could stop him this time." He looked at me like I was insane and rolled his eyes.

Just when he was going to say something, a familiar voice shouted from the stands, "ten bucks on Scott and Stiles." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"I want in on that action," Coach hollered back at her.

I shoved my clipboard into his chest, "just give me a minute with them," I walked onto the field towards the two older boys. I grabbed their face masks and pulled them down to my level. Scott gasped and Stiles flailed his arms in surprise. After they settled down, I began, "hey guys, how are you feeling? Are you hurt?" I asked with false concern.

The pair shook their head and I continued, "Oh you're not? So do you wanna tell me why our two _star_ players can't get the ball away from a FRESHMEN?"

Scott looked down at the ground and Stiles opened and closed his mouth, searching for something to say. "Alright boys, it's time for a pep talk. Stiles, you've practiced a lot for this and now you actually have a chance to make starting line," I looked into his hazel eyes, "you can do this. I believe in you." We held eye contact for a little too long before I turned to Scott, "alright Scotty boy, you're not a teen wolf, you're not a werewolf, you're an alpha. So play like one!"

"But I can't-"he began to make excuses.

I turned their heads so they could see Liam, "see that cute little freshmen over there? The one that just beat you? Who do you think coach is going to put in the next game, him or the two he beat in practice? He's stealing your spot, and are you just going to let him?" I asked.

"No," they both replied weakly.

"Then beat him," I lightly knocked their helmets together and stalked off the field towards Coach.

The three took their spots, and Coach blew the whistle, signaling the start of the drill. Liam skillfully took off towards his opponents. When the three collided, there was the unmistakable sound of bone snapping and a pain filled scream left Liam's mouth.

Followed by Coach, I ran out onto the field. I stopped at Scott and Stiles, "I said beat him, not break him," before they could say anything else, I was already kneeling beside Liam.

"Are you okay?" I took his helmet off and put a hand on his shoulder, "do you need to go to the hospital?"

He looked at me with his big blue eyes, he looked scared and I didn't blame him. He nodded wordlessly and I relayed the message to Coach. I looked around, but Scott and Stiles were nowhere to be found.


	6. It's Gonna Be Okay

I pulled into the space next to Scott's bike at the hospital. I hopped out of the car to be met with a very concerned Scott McCall. I shook my head at the events that had landed us here. Scott had used his wolf abilities and hurt one of the best non-supernatural lacrosse players Beacon Hills has seen in a long time. I knew he felt guilty, and I couldn't help but think that it was partly my fault. If I hadn't told him his position on the team was in jeopardy, which was a flat out lie, he wouldn't have hurt Liam.

Without saying anything, I grabbed the vase of red and white flowers out of the back seat of my car. Coach had insisted that I bring these to Liam and say the whole team was thinking of him and wishing him a speedy recovery, but really it was just a rouse to find out just how speedy his recovery would be. I turned around to ask Scott if he was ready when I saw him looking at the flowers oddly.

"I didn't know you were that close with Liam," he smirked slightly.

"They're from the team. Coach wanted me to get him something and who better to deliver well wishes from the team than the manager and captain?" I linked my arm with Scott's as we headed towards the entrance.

"Captain or the asshole who broke his leg?" Scott mumbled.

"Hey," I looked him in his warm brown eyes, "cheer up, we don't know if it's broken. He could be back on the field in no time." I bumped him with my shoulder in an attempt to restore a playful vibe, but it was useless.

"Even if I didn't have super hearing, I still would've been able to hear his bone snapping," he opened one of the hospital's glass doors and gestured for me to enter.

I walked through the door, calling out to Scott behind me, "come on Sour Wolf!"

We approached Liam's room, and Scott hesitated entering. I put my hand on the doorknob, "you wait here, and I'll see how bad it is."

He nodded gratefully and I proceeded into the room. "Hey Liam, how ya feeling?"

I set the flowers down on the nearest table and approached the bed. He looked between me and the man in the room. The doctor then introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Liam's doctor and stepfather."

"Hi, I'm Emma Dunn, the lacrosse manager," I greeted back, shaking the man's hand.

"Well, I'll be back in a while with the X-Rays," he looked between the two of us and then gave Liam a look I couldn't quite decipher, and exited the room.

"Those are from the team," I said carefully plopping down next to the injured freshmen, "so, how bad does it look?"

"Very bad," he nervously replied.

"Coach and the team send their, ah, well they say get well soon," I looked into his blue eyes, "you were really good out there you know."

"Yeah until I got injured," he looked down in disappointment.

"Hey," I put my hand over his, "it's gonna be okay. Coach already worships the ground you walk on. That midfield position is your's when you're ready for it."

He chuckled a little, "won't your boyfriend be a little mad I took his spot?" He, dare I say, flirted.

"Who, Stiles?" I shook my head, "he'll be a little too busy with his real girlfriend, Malia, to notice." I forced an uncomfortable laugh in a futile attempt to lift the awkwardness.

His eyes grew wide as he realized his mistake, "Sorry, I just thought after today in line that you two were…"

"Well, we're not, so don't worry about him. He'll get over sitting the bench, again." I winked at Liam.

"So if you're not dating," his sentence was cut off by a terrified scream.

"Stay here," I ordered and ran into the hallway.

Scott was still standing outside the door. He looked just about as scared as I was. We both knew who the voice belonged to. His mother. He grabbed my hand and we ran to find her. We rounded the corner to see her on the ground, covered in blood. Why was everyone always covered in blood?

"It's not mine, the blood. Go it's Sean. He ate the cop," Mrs. McCall was franticly pointing in the direction the latest supernatural monster had run off in.

Scott looked away and then back at his mom. "Go," I yelled dropping to my knees next to the nurse, "I've got her, just go!"

"But Emma,"

"Go!" I yelled in unison with Mrs. McCall. Scott took off down the hallway with his claws out, ready to attack.

Before I could even ask Scott's mom if she was alright, I whipped out my cell phone, dialing the only number I could think of. After two rings, he picked up, "You need to come to the hospital. Now. It's supernatural."

I clicked the red button and turned my full attention to the women in front of me, "Is all the blood really his?" I asked skeptically.

"Yes," she nodded, a tad frazzled, "it's all his."

I tucked a strand of her curly brown hair behind her ear, and a hand on her shoulder, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, he just knocked me down. It didn't even bruise," she laughed it off.

I turned my body so I was positioned next to her, our backs up against the wall, "that's not what I meant. Are you okay, ya know, mentally? You just walked in on a kid eating another human being, that's potentially scarring."

"I will be," I leaned my head on her shoulder as she spoke, "are you okay?"

"I will be," I echoed her.

She grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed it, "I'm his mom, I'm supposed to be able to protect him, not sit here while he fights off all these monsters, and hope he comes back."

"Believe me Mrs. McCall, I know how much waiting around and hoping they all come back safe can suck. But you do protect us, I don't know what I would do without you. It's just a little complicated now," she leaned her head on top of mine, "but Scott's gonna be okay. We all are gonna be okay this time," it was clear to her that I was thinking about losing Allison. I was determined to make sure everyone got out alive. We couldn't go through that again.

"Oh honey," but before she could say anything else, Scott came around the corner, his arms around Liam's shoulder holding up the younger boy.

"We have to get out of here," the panic in his voice was evident.

"Scott, his wrist," I pointed at Liam's bloody wrist. Bloody bite marks were visible as Liam cried out in pain.

"Emma, I know, we have to get him out of here."

"Stiles should be here soon, she just called him," Mrs. McCall stood up, pulling me with her.

"Um, wrong Stilinski," I corrected her, "the Sheriff should be here soon."

"You called the police?" Scott all but shrieked.

"Scott what else was I supposed to do? There's a dead body for crying out loud." I ran a hand through my hair.

A silence fell over the four of us as we tried to figure something out. A minute later, I came up with a plan. I dug around in my bag pulling out a pink lanyard with my car keys on the end. I threw them at the alpha, "here take him to Stiles. He'll know what to do. I'll stick around here and explain everything to the Sheriff."

"Good idea Emma," Scott began to walk away, but turned around, "leave him out of the story, just me the cannibal, and the mute were on the roof. Sean's dead, the mute got him."

I began to hear sirens as Scott explained the situation, "Scott did you," I trailed off pointing at Liam's arm.

He looked down and just nodded slightly, "It's gonna be okay Scott. We'll figure it out," the sirens became louder, "now go!'

After quickly recapping tonight's events to the Sheriff and to my surprise, Derek, I finally left the hospital. Just as I exited the door, my phone began to ring. "Hello?"

"We lost him," a nervous voice on the other end replied.

"Stiles, what do you mean you lost him?" I gasped, horrific possibilities of what an out of control werewolf could be doing.

"Well, we had him, and now we don't, Em," he sighed stressfully, "this is bad."

"Very." We talked for a while about how to find the Liam, and what the pack was going to do with a new beta, when we could hardly train Malia. When our conversation neared an end, I scanned the parking lot for my car, only to remember I had given it to Scott. I sighed into the phone, "Can you come get me at the hospital?"

"I can take you," the Sheriff's voice came from behind me. I smiled at him and nodded my head.

"Never mind, Stiles," I said into the phone.

"Is that my dad?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's gonna take me home and I'll get my car from Scott later," a silence fell over us. It was uncomfortable, it was like neither of us knew what to say, which was a first. Usually the two of us couldn't shut up, but here we were, unable to say even a simple goodbye.

Stiles finally broke the silence, "are you okay?"

There it was. That question I had heard and asked over a million times over the last year. None of us were really okay anymore. And after everything we had been through, how could we?

"I am if you are," I replied, praying the beta hadn't done too much damage to my best friend.

"We're good then," I could hear his smirk through the phone.

"Good," I looked back at the Sheriff who was awkwardly waiting for me to get off the phone, "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Bye Em."

"Bye Stiles," I dropped my phone into my bag and followed the Sheriff to his police car.

"So everyone's okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes sir," I buckled my seatbelt and leaned my head on the headrest. "How's Mrs. McCall?"

"She got looked at by the doctor while I was on the roof," he pulled out of the parking lot, "I checked on her before I left."

I smiled at his concern for Scott's mom, "I'm sure you did."

He picked up on tone and I wiggled my eyebrows at him, "what's that supposed to mean, young lady?"

I laughed at him a little before continuing, "come on Sheriff, I'm not as oblivious as Scott and Stiles. I'm a girl, we pick up on these kinds of things."

"What kinds of things?" Again, he looked at me. His confused look reminded me of Stiles.

"Things like you and Momma McCall," I said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He didn't respond to me, he looked genuinely surprised at the conclusion I had come to about his relationship with everybody's favorite nurse. He began to play with his wedding ring, and my heart broke for him, "it's okay, you know?"

"What's okay?" he deflected with another question.

"To like her," I put a hand on his forearm.

"Yeah, well," he sighed, "it's not just about me. I have to think about Stiles."

"Does that mean you actually have feelings for her?" I said and he avoided my gaze, "he'd be okay with it," I said as we pulled into my driveway. "We've talked about it, and all he wants is for you to be happy. And if that means you dating again, he'll deal with it, as long as you're happy."

"When'd you guys get so grown up?" he shook his head at me.

"I guess it started the day before sophomore year," I let out a little laugh.

A brief quietness came over the car, "is your mom home?"

"Is she ever?"

"Do you want to-"

I cut him off, "I'm fine Sheriff, but thanks," I unbuckled and opened the door. But before I shut the door, I spoke again, "look Sheriff, we're get our asses royally kicked out there. Something good should come out of all this. You should at least think about giving it a shot."

He looked like he was thinking it over for a minute but just replied with a, "Goodnight Emma," and waved goodbye.

"Goodnight," I shut the door and ran up the walkway to my house, waving back at the Sheriff as I opened it.

Just when I shut the door, my phone beeped. The text message was from Stiles.

From: Stiles

Just want to make sure you got home alright.

To: Stiles

I'm safe and sound. Pick me up for school tomorrow?

From: Stiles

Anything for you Em.

I smiled like an idiot at my phone. I knew he didn't mean it like it sounded but it caused butterflies nonetheless.

To: Stiles

You're an idiot.

From: Stiles

But you love me.

Before I could reply he texted again.

From: Stiles

My dad said you're home alone, need me to come over? We just head to school together tomorrow.

Well, here was a golden opportunity to spend quality one-on-one time with Stiles, something that hadn't happened in a very long time. I thought about his werecoyote of a girlfriend that would be more than willing to rip my face off if I said yes. But this was my best friend, and I shouldn't have to give him up just because of her. I smiled and texted back.

To: Stiles

One condition. No supernatural anything.

From: Stiles

I'll be there in ten.

I squealed like a little school girl and prepared for my sleepover with Stiles.


	7. Sleepover with Stiles

Stiles unlocked the front door to Emma's house, and threw his duffle bag on the nearest couch. He looked around the large living room for the blonde, but she was nowhere to be found. Stiles wandered into the kitchen to see a plate full of cookies. As he took one he began to read the note Emma had left for him. He smiled at her neat handwriting.

_Stiles-_

_I baked these the other day and I know they're your fave, so help yourself. I'll be out of the shower soon._

_-Em_

_P.S. Please save me one, please. _

He shoved the note in his pocket, and took the plate of cookies upstairs. As he walked up the spiral staircase he heard Emma singing in the shower.

"Got this 737 rockin' like a G6," he chuckled at her singing, which was off key, but very endearing. It reminded him of when they used to ride around in his jeep. She would turn up the radio and roll the windows down, and sing along to all her favorite songs. A while back he had made her a mix tape of all the songs he loved to hear her sing. She still kept it in the jeep and most of the time he just wishes they could go back in time to those nights, before everything got so messy, when their biggest problem was getting caught out passed curfew by one of his father's officers. "buying drinks for everybody but the pilot, it's a paaaarty," Emma's singing could still be heard as Stiles traveled further into the familiar home. He finally entered her room placing the plate on her bed. He stood at the end of her queen sized bed and scanned the room.

The two of them had spent so much of their childhood in this room. It hadn't changed much throughout the years. The walls were off white, and her bedding was still a light pink color; her favorite. The cork board above her desk was filled with pictures, notes, and other various memorabilia. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans, he inspected the board.

In the top left corner, there was a picture of her and her mom. It was from a few years ago, before they went into high school. It was probably the most recent picture of the two of them. Her mom was always leaving for some conference or research project. It wasn't that Ms. Dunn didn't love her daughter, it's just that sometimes she loved her work more. He knew how much it bothered Emma that her mom wasn't around, but it was probably why they were so close. It was freshmen year when she was first left alone and walked the two miles to his house, crying. And since then, she had spent countless nights at his house whenever this big house got too lonely. It was right then that he realized she hadn't been over his house, left alone slept there in quite some time. He wasn't the only one that missed her presence, his dad always asked where she was, and when she was going to come over; but Malia would always change the subject before Stiles could make up a lie about Emma being really busy with school work.

Stiles shook the possible reasons for her not coming to hang out with him anymore out of his head, and scanned through more pictures. His hazel eyes landed on a picture from the night of the winter formal. He picked it off the board and couldn't help but smile at the picture. Emma was in the middle wearing a strapless white dress that was tight to her skin on the top and flared out stopping mid-thigh. It made her look like a ballerina. In the picture with her was Allison and Lydia. The three girls had their arms wrapped around each other and were smiling at the camera. They looked so happy, completely unaware of what would happen later that night. He could still picture Lydia falling to the ground in the middle of the lacrosse field. Emma leaning over Lydia, screaming at her to wake up. The bright red blood splattered across her dress when Peter took a swipe at his best friend's shoulder.

He was so invested in his war flashbacks, he didn't hear Emma come in the room behind him. "Stiles?"

"Emma, I never apologized for leaving you on the field that night," he put the picture back and turned to face her. She was a lot smaller than him, the top of her head coming up to just below his shoulder. Her long blonde hair was still wet from her shower. "Em, I'm so sorry. About everything that happened to you just because I took you and Scott out that night. If I hadn't wanted to find that stupid body, you wouldn't have been hurt that night."

"Hey," she looked up at him, her eyes filled with worry, "look I'm okay," She lifted her tee shirt sleeve to show him the scars left by the former alpha's claws., "I healed."

"Yeah but not all of us did," he looked back at the picture, with a focus on Allison.

Before he could even process what she was doing, she had pulled him into a hug, "Stiles, please don't for a minute blame yourself. Please, I don't blame you for this, no one thinks it's your fault."

His hands found their way to her waist and she leaned her head back, keeping her arms locked around his neck. Her eyes glanced down at his lips and she smiled at him. "Why don't you go shower, I'm gonna make us some mac and cheese, okay?"

"Only if I can pick the movie," he smiled back down at her.

"Deal," she slid out of his hug and left him standing there in her room.

Twenty minutes later, a wet haired Stiles wandered into the kitchen. Emma was facing the stove with her back to him, stirring in the cheese powder. He leaned against the doorway and watched her carefully. She was wearing a maroon lacrosse shirt that had once belonged to him. It had Stilinski written in bold white lettering across the top of her back and his number, 24, underneath. She wore a black pair of track shorts and tapped a bare foot against the tile and she sectioned the food into bowls.

"Need any help?" she jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Oh my God, you scared me," her laugh echoed through the empty house. He loved the sound of her laugh, and he was really glad that he could always make her laugh. With all the horrible things they were going through, it was nice there was still some happiness in the world. "Um, nope, I'm all done here. Let's go watch that movie."

She handed him a ceramic bowl filled with mac and cheese and headed back upstairs. She sat down in her bed, and since he had already put the DVD in, he climbed into bed after her. His long legs, clad in flannel pajama pants, were touching hers, and she smiled at him, "So Stilinski, what are we watching tonight?"

He grabbed the remote and pressed play. Smirking at her he said, "I picked a comedy, I think we could use a good laugh."

Halfway through _Bridesmaids_, one of Emma's favorite movies, Stiles felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked over to see a sleeping Emma resting her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and she snuggled closer to him, wrapping her small arm around his torso. Stiles thought back to the night that they had kissed, well the night he had kissed her. It had felt so natural, just like lying in bed with her right now felt. It was odd. He shouldn't like this. He had Malia, who since becoming his girlfriend, had spent many a night in his bed. He began to think about how it could have turned out differently than it did if he had acted on his feelings for Emma, if he had kissed her again, or just talked to her about it. Would she have felt the same way? Would their friendship have been ruined? A million questions ran through his head, confusing him more and more. He then came back to the thought of Malia. Sure she was a little rough around the edges, but he'd done the hopeless crush on Lydia, and finally someone wanted to be with him. And he liked her alright. He knew that she wouldn't like it if she saw this right now.

Carefully, he unwrapped himself from Emma. He untangled their legs, and took her arm off of him. Now all that was left to do was pull himself out from underneath her head. But being Stiles, he stumbled off the bed, falling backwards into her dresser. The clatter woke up the sleeping girl and he just waved at her from the ground.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked at him confused, "where are you going?"

"Um, I was just heading off to bed," he stood up, "you know in the guest room."

"Oh," she stood up and opened the door from him, "it's down the hall-"

"To the left," he finished for her, "yeah I know where it is. I have been here before." He tried to make a joke.

"I know," she chuckled awkwardly, but then became serious, "but you've never used it before."

There it was. Her voice was a little hurt. The night played back in her mind, she tried to find where she did something wrong. Did her falling asleep on him freak him out? "I know, Em, it's just that I have a girlfriend now…" His voice trailed off awkwardly and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

She tucked a lock of her messy bedhead behind her ear, and shook her head, "oh yeah, of course, you sleeping with another girl would be totally inappropriate," her eyes went wide, "I didn't mean it like ya know _sleeping_ with me, I meant sleeping. You know eyes closed, clothes on. Shut eye, beauty sleep kind of thing."

He laughed at her babbling, "I know it's just-"

"Malia," this time she finished his sentence, "I get it. Goodnight."

She shut her bedroom door, leaving him alone in the dark hallway, "Goodnight," he mumbled back.

It was 1:05 and he still couldn't sleep. He was so confused about the way she acted when he brought up his girlfriend. Did she hate Malia that much? Was he spending too much time with her? But he already knew the answer to that question. Of course he was. But he couldn't help it, she needed lessons on being human, and who better to do that than the only human, besides Emma, left in the pack? Tossing and turning, he decided that he would set aside more time for Emma, she deserved that from him. He felt like a shitty friend, abandoning her for his first girlfriend. If anyone knew how much that sucked it was him. He remembered how awful it felt when Scott stood him up and ignored his phone calls back when he first started dating Allison.

Stiles late night thoughts were interrupted by an ear piercing scream. His blood ran cold when he realized it was Emma. He jumped out of bed and sprinted down the hallway. With shaking hands, he threw open her door to find her thrashing around in her bed screaming. He jumped on her bed and held her from behind. He made sure that he had a tight grip on her arms so she wouldn't hurt herself. She continued to scream, and flop around.

Her terrifying screams worried him even more when they changed from wordless shrieks to a name. She began yelling his name at the top of her lungs, and it scared him shitless. "Emma, wake up. Please Emma you have to wake up now." He said, gently shaking her.

"Stiles!" she yelled a final time, before she snapped out of her nightmare.

"Shh, it's okay, it was just a dream," Stiles sighed in relief.

She turned around so she was facing him, her brown eyes welled up with tears. He laid down on his back, taking her with him. She rested her head on his chest. He rubbed her back while she wrapped her arm around him, pulling herself as close to him as she possibly could.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked quietly. She just shook her head against him and wiped her eyes. He just nodded and continued to rub her back.

"Don't leave this time?" she whispered into him.

"I promise I won't ever leave you," his heart broke for the girl in his arms. He knew better than anyone what it was like to be afraid to close your eyes. He waited until her breathing slowed into a steady pace before closing his own eyes. There they were, two best friends, holding each other. The last thought Stiles had before he drifted off was that it felt really good to be the big spoon.


	8. Fake Flirting

Stiles' eyes fluttered open the next morning to find himself in an empty bed. The pink bedspread and matching sheets were pulled up on her side, as if she tried to make the bed with him still in it. He was confused, after last night's incident he thought he would have to drag Emma out of bed. Rubbing his eyes, he began to sit up. It was then that he fully realized the situation at hand. They had slept together in the most innocent sense of the word. He had held her small frame in his arms as she silently cried. So why was it after that intimate moment, he woke up alone?

The door opened, snapping him back to reality. "Finally you're up, come on we're going to be late if you don't start getting ready." Emma bounced into the room, the cheerfulness in her voice was clearly forced. She stopped in front of the full-length mirror and began adjusting her clothes. She rolled her eyes when she saw that his reflection had not moved, "come on sleepy head."

"Emma," he began cautiously, not wanting to upset her this early in the morning, "do you want-"

"Breakfast?" she cut him off, "no thanks I already ate, and I left some down there for you too."

He slowly got out of bed and walked over to her. She quickly skirted around him, and sat down at her vanity. Emma began to run a neon blue straightener through her hair, carefully avoiding eye contact with her best friend's reflection. He stood behind her, watching her in utter confusion. Why was she avoiding the topic of last night? Was it the nightmare or what happened after that had her in such a hurry to forget?

"Stiles," she half turned to face him, "you should get ready." She firmly put down the straightener and stared at him.

"Not until we talk," he put a hand on her shoulder.

"About what?" she said innocently, her wide brown eyes looking up at him through long lashes. She just shrugged him off.

"Emma, what were you dreaming about?" he said in a low voice. Her body went rigid under his hand. Her eyes showed a flash of panic, then returned to normal.

"Ryan Gosling," she applied some cherry chap stick and smacked her lips together. He sighed in slight annoyance. She looked back up at him and her eyes softened. "But I'm guessing you were referring to the night terror, huh?"

"Emma, look, I want you to talk to me about it," he paused and when she didn't say anything he continued, "alright, I'm not gonna push you but I want you to know I'm here. I'm your best friend don't shut me out. I want to help you, I mean who knows nightmares better than me right? So when you want to talk-"

"Stiles," she stood up, quietly interrupting the babbling boy, "I couldn't save you."

He took her hand and sat her down on the bed. Joining her, he waited for her to continue, "The Oni. They killed you just like they killed…her."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into him, "hey I'm not going anywhere."

Her eyes welled up as she forced herself to continue, "I know but it just feels so real. I run and run but I can't make it to you in time. And it's just like reliving that night over and over again, except sometimes it's Allison and sometimes it's you. It's just not fair, this was supposed to be over. Everyone else is fine, why can't I be okay too?"

"Hey look at me, we're going to get through this. None of us are really fine after what happened, but you need to let me in," he put his hand under her chin, tilting her head upward. "How long have you been having nightmares?"

"Since the night it happened," she blinked back tears, "it's just every time I close my eyes I see her falling to the ground and I'm just standing there, useless."

He sighed, unsure of what to say. He wanted to comfort her, but he also knew him and words, well they didn't always come out like he meant them. Being one of the only humans in a pack of supernatural creatures is a hard thing to do. It seems like everyone else has these amazing abilities and you're just nothing. "Emma, you are not useless. You're so amazing and I wish that you could see how much you do for us. I know I wouldn't have made it this far without you."

She smiled a little, "you're right. You would still be chaining Scott up on full moons if it wasn't for me. But sometimes I just wish I wasn't so human," carefully wiping the tears from her eyes, she stood up. "Okay, sentimental moment over. We need to go to school, so get ready."

She turned to walk away, but Stiles stood up and grabbed her hand. She let out a little gasp in surprise at his actions. "I just want you to know," he sighed, looking for the right words, "you're really important to me. I know we haven't spent a lot of time together, just the two of us, in a while. But I want you to know that you're still my best friend, and I wouldn't want anyone else by my side through all of this."

He paused and she quickly interrupted his speech, "Stiles you don't have to-"

"Please," he countered, "just let me say this." She silently nodded. Her small hand squeezed his much larger one, urging him to continue. "I, uh, know being human isn't easy, but I'm really glad you're still you. I don't think I could handle it. I mean Scott's changed so much since the bite and not that that's a bad thing. It's just that I like that you're still the Emma I went to middle school with." She looked up at him in confusion, and he rolled his eyes at himself, "But I guess you've changed a little. I guess everyone does."

"Stiles I don't understand what you're trying to say."

"I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I'm happy that even though you've turned into this beautiful supernatural expert, you're still the girl I go to when I want to pig out on curly fries and play video games with. And I don't think we'd being doing much of that if you were some sort of creature. So, in conclusion, I'm just glad you're still my Emma," he awkwardly gave her hand a squeeze, "okay now that I've made a total idiot of myself, I'm gonna finally get ready for school so we won't be late."

He left her standing in her room, mouth agape. She didn't even understand what just happened. In the whole time she's known Stiles he has never been the guy to tell you how he felt. Sure he would show it, he wasn't heartless, but in the whole time she'd known him, he'd only talked to her like this once, and that was just because her dad moving out put her in a bad place. It just wasn't a part of who he was, he usually just joked around and was rarely serious. And while his little speech wasn't the most eloquent thing she'd ever heard, it was very sweet and very Stiles, and she couldn't ask for anything more than that. With a grin that rivaled the Cheshire cat she headed down to her kitchen.

She sat on her kitchen table thinking about the events of last night. She had done such a good job of hiding her nightmare problem from the group. No one knew and now she was afraid they would treat her differently if they discovered she couldn't handle the stress of the supernatural as well as they could. She was afraid that if they knew, they would baby her.

She heard Stiles heavy footsteps down the stairs and rubbed her hands nervously on the thighs of her dark wash jeans. He rounded the corner and grinned at her. It wasn't his normal goofy smile, it was a look she was very familiar with, it was the "we need to talk" face. He sighed walking up to her. He was standing so close that her knees brushed his thighs. She looked at her hands in her lap, not wanting to talk about it. She just wanted to forget, so why couldn't he?

"Look, about last night," he started hesitantly.

"Stiles, it was just a nightmare, I'm fine, we already discussed it. Can we move on from it now?" Emma finally looked up at him. Sitting on the table put her at almost eye level with Stiles, the worried look he was giving her set her teeth on edge.

She squinted his eyes and proceeded to look mildly uncomfortable at the conversation that was unfolding. "I wasn't talking about the nightmare, I was talking about what happened after."

"Nothing happened after," she shook her head in confusion. Panic spread across her face. Did she do something in her post-nightmare daze? She hadn't been thinking straight, maybe she could just pass it off as being over emotional, scared, not in the right mind. Nervous to hear the answer, she quietly asked, "I mean nothing happened, right?"

"Wh-what?" He shouted, his hazel eyes widened at her question, "no of course not?"

Emma sighed in relief, "good, so we just slept together. What's the big deal?"

"It's not really a big deal to me, I mean it's not like it's the first time we've done that," he paused and Emma gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "but I just don't think Malia would understand that that is a normal thing for us. I don't think she would like it. You get that right?"

This made her mad. It made her feel like his little secret. They could hang out and act like nothing's changed as long as Malia didn't find out. The thing that killed her is she understood where he was coming from. "Yeah no, I get it. I mean if we were dating, I wouldn't like it if you were sleeping in some other girl's bed."

If it was possible, Stiles eyes widened even further. He chuckled and Emma joined in, "so you think about dating me, huh, Dunn?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Stilinski," she lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow," he feigned injury, "seriously, assaulting the sheriff's son? Not a smart move."

"Aw, is the big baby okay?" she pouted, but broke out into giggles. Once their laughter died out she rolled her eyes, and continued their conversation, "I've got a proposition for you, I won't tell Malia about you spending the night in my bed, if you keep your mouth shut about my nightmare."

He stuck his hand out and she shook it firmly, "you've got yourself a deal." Keeping his hand in hers, she dragged him out the door and toward the Jeep.

Once Stiles cut the engine to the Jeep in the school parking lot, Emma's phone buzzed with a text from Lydia.

From: Lyd

I see you in his car. Get out and meet me at my locker before his girlfriend scratches your eyes out.

Nervously, she threw her phone into her bag and gathered her books. With one hand on the door handle, she turned to Stiles, "that was Lyd, she needs to talk to me, so I'm gonna…go…now." She finished awkwardly.

"Oh yeah," he waved her off, "I gotta talk to Scott about the whole beta situation now anyway so…" he searched for something to say, literally anything would be better than this awkward tension, "I'll see you at lunch or lacrosse?"

"Yeah!" She nodded before jumping from the Jeep and all but ran to Lydia's locker.

Her red headed friend saw her approaching and started shaking her head, "I know Lyd, you don't have to say anything about it?"

"Say what?" she played dumb, "oh just that your crush on Stiles is borderline unhealthy and is literally putting your life at risk. I mean as much as she tries, she's not like Scott. She still has the animal instinct and would have no problem ripping you to shreds."

Emma just sighed and leaned her back against the row of lockers, "you don't think I know that? I'm trying really hard to give it up, but it's not that easy. This isn't just some guy, it's my best friend."

"And here I thought that was my job," Emma rolled her eyes, but let her friend continue, "but from what I've heard, you've got your claws into that new freshmen lacrosse boy."

"Liam?" Emma asked incredulously, "Lyd, he's just a kid. Plus now that he's a werewolf, it wouldn't work. I have a rule."

They continued down the hallway towards their homeroom, "and what rule is this?"

"Don't date supernatural creatures," the two girls burst into a fit of giggles, as they approached three familiar figures in the hallway.

"Scott, stop," Stiles begged, rolling his eyes at the alpha.

Scott noticed their presence, grabbing onto Lydia's arm, Emma forced her to keep moving. "Morning boys!" Emma called out and threw a wink in their direction as they turned into the classroom. Lydia just shook her head, with a smirk on her face and slid into her assigned seat.

Later that day, Stiles, Malia, Lydia, Kira, and Scott were standing in a cluster brainstorming ideas on how to contain Liam during tonight's full moon. They looked at the younger boy standing at his locker.

"Just tell him we're gonna hang out!" Stiles Malia threw out there.

"Tell him we're throwing a party!" Stiles countered.

"Let me guess, at my lake house?" Lydia crossed her arms.

"But how are we going to make sure he comes to the party?" Kira searched the group for an answer.

"I have an idea," Lydia smirked and looked around Stiles, at someone approaching the group.

Stiles quickly turned around, "Emma?" he asked.

"Emma!" The red head waved her over to them.

Cautiously, the blonde approached her friends. "Oh God, what's up Lyd?"

"We need you to get Liam to come to a party at my lake house tonight," she said as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world.

"And since everyone just looooves you," Malia spat, earning herself a sharp jab to the ribs courtesy of Lydia's elbow.

"Please Em, this is literally life or death!" Scott further argued for the plan.

Emma groaned and shoved her textbooks into Stiles' arms. "Fine!" She adjusted jeans, unbuttoned another button on her flannel, exposing her tank top and the very little cleavage she possessed. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she sent Lydia a wink, and strut over to little Liam Dunbar.

"Liam," the group heard her initiate conversation. They watched as she put one hand up against the wall and lean on it, tilting her head closer to the boy. Emma threw her head back as she laughed at something Liam said.

"What is she doing?" Malia scrunched her nose in confusion as Emma put her hand on Liam's bicep, squeezing his arm a little.

"Flirting," Stiles said, the disgust audible in his voice.

"She's awesome," Lydia beamed with pride.

"Really, how is she still single?" Kira said in awe.

"Oh I have a theory about that," Lydia hinted as she watched Stiles grip tighten on Emma's books, and the glare on Malia's face grow angrier. Scott just laughed as Emma leaned in, giving Liam a quick hug. Her curls bounced as she returned to her friends. Liam watched her retreating figure longingly.

"You got him to come with you?" Malia asked in a business-like manner.

"Oh, I got him. Hook, line, and sinker." Emma high fived Lydia.

"I'm so proud," Lydia wiped a fake tear from her eye.

Emma shrugged, taking her books back from a very tense Stiles. "I learned from the best." The two girls giggled, "Drive me home? I've got a date to get ready for."

"Of course," the two linked arms and started to walk away. But before they made it far Lydia turned back and called out, "Kira, you coming?"

The kitsune looked shocked, "really? This seems like a 'best friend' kind of thing." She looked at the ground shyly, it was clear she still felt like an outsider.

"And that's why we're asking you to come," Emma sent her a warm smile and Lydia extended her arm.

Kira looked to Scott, who grinned at her, "yeah of course I'm coming!" And the three girls hopped into the yellow beetle.

"I've got to go," Malia said quietly, "I'll meet you later."

Stiles tried to follow her fleeing girlfriend, but Scott grabbed his arm, "let her go, she needs to cool off."

"What was that all about?" Stiles was clearly confused at the series of events that just unfolded.

"Let's go to your house," Scott pulled him into the parking lot, "clearly, we need to talk."


	9. Driving Liam Dunbar

"So can you please tell me what we clearly needed to talk about?" Stiles flopped down on Scott's bed. He laid on his stomach, head at the end of the bed as he watched Scott pace back and forth.

"So what happened last night?" Scott smirked.

"Nothing, I stayed over at Emma's house," Stiles answered innocently.

"And nothing happened between the two of you?" Scott sat down next to his friend's shoulder.

Stiles' fingers tapped in an unfamiliar rhythm on the wooden foot board. "We just fell asleep. Together. Nothing that hasn't happened before. But you can't tell Malia."

Scott laughed at Stiles, "I won't, but I think she already knows." Stiles eyes went wide with panic.

"H-How would she know?! Emma said we wouldn't tell anybody. Do you think she told her?" Stiles frantically sat up and waved his arms about.

"Stiles, Stiles, I could smell her on you," Scott pointed to his nose, "and I'm guessing because she also has supernatural senses, Malia could too."

"Shit," Stiles mumbled into the hand that was covering his mouth.

"But why did you vow not to tell anyone?"

Stiles looked down at his phone, sending another text message to make sure Emma was still okay. He finally looked back up at Scott, "It's complicated."

"Believe me, Stiles, I understand complicated relationships more than anyone else. So just tell me."

Stiles ignored him as he received another text from Emma. Annoyed, Scott snatched the phone from his best friend and read the text out loud, "'Stiles, I'm fine. Believe it or not I have been on a date before. I don't need you checking in on me constantly.'" Scott tossed the phone back and slapped his hand on Stiles' shoulder, "Ouch. What'd you do?"

Stiles opened his mouth, but words didn't come out. He thought about it for a minute, "I got a girlfriend and she's not Emma."

Scott's jaw hit the floor. "Oh my God. Does she like you? Did she say anything? Do you like her? What about Malia?"

"Scott, breathe. I don't know I mean how do you even know when you're into someone? Do I like spending time with Emma? Of course. And sleeping with her last night, I felt really comfortable, but maybe it's just because I haven't been spending time with her, you know maybe I've just missed being around her."

"Stiles, you need to figure it out, because Malia might kill the both of you, if you come to school smelling like you slept with Emma again."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, dude, anything."

"How did you know you were over Allison?" He winced at his own voice, knowing this conversation would touch a nerve.

"I don't know, I guess when I saw her with Isaac, I knew he made her happy, which was something I hadn't done in a long time. I think Kira, you know we're both supernatural and I think she understands a part of my life that even if she tried, Allison couldn't. We make a lot more sense." He noticed the tears in his friend's eyes.

"Yeah, I think I get what you're saying. Malia's great, but I just feel like I'm always trying to change her. It's like I have to work to get us to fit together. It wasn't always like this, but lately, it just hasn't been working. But with Emma, I don't have to try, I don't have to force anything. With her, I, I just feel really good."

Scott patted his shoulder, "I think you have your answer man. Checking the time, he continued, "Come on, we have a beta to train."

"I knew this felt too normal," Stiles joked, dialing Emma's phone number, again.

I got out of the car at Liam's house, and to say I was nervous would be the understatement of the year. I was taking a newly bitten werewolf up to Lydia's lake house on the night of the full moon, what could go wrong?

As I pulled down my short pale blue skater dress, my phone buzzed for the millionth time that night. "What Stiles?" He had been texting and now calling every few minutes to check up on me, and he was currently bouncing on my last nerve.

"Hey," he sighed with relief, "Sorry, I know this is a little much, but Liam's a newbie at the whole supernatural thing, and being with a pretty girl on the night of his first full moon might send him over the edge. And I'd hate for that pretty girl to get hurt."

I smiled at his kind words, and before I could update him on my whereabouts, he continued, "Emma, don't get mad at me, I'm just worrying about you just like you would worry about me, if I were doing the same thing."

"What taking a werewolf out on a date?" I sassed, "oh no, you're just sleeping with one."

"Emma, come on, that's not fair," I could tell I was testing his patience, "I'm just doing this because I care about you."

I stomped my foot on the pavement, "well you can't care about me some of the time and then just care about your girlfriend. Stiles, that's not fair!"

"Em, you're not making any sense. You're my best friend, I care about you all of the time."

"But only if we keep it a secret, right?" I spat, feeling the anger boil up inside of me.

"What?" Stiles shouted into the phone.

"I don't want to talk about this now. I'm at Liam's. I have to go," before he could say anything else, I threw my phone on my seat and walked up to the front door, shaking any thoughts of Stiles out of my head.

I knocked on the big white front door, and waited impatiently for Liam to answer. A few seconds later, the door opened, but it wasn't Liam, it was the doctor from the emergency room the other night.

"I'm sorry, but is Liam Dunbar here?" I scrunched my nose in confusion, hoping I didn't get the address wrong.

"Yeah, I'm his stepfather, we met at the hospital a few days ago," he extended his hand. I had completely forgotten him introducing himself that night.

"Right, sorry, I'm Emma Dunn," I said shaking his hand and praying that Liam would come out soon.

"The lacrosse manager?" He asked

"Yeah that's me," I chucked nervously, looking up at him I continued, "Did Liam tell you I was coming to get him? I mean the team's getting together tonight and I know they would really hate it if he couldn't make it. It's sort of a team bonding thing."

I looked around, and noticed the full moon rising in the as the sun fell behind the trees. "Yes, he did mention it, but he didn't mention that an older girl was coming to get him."

"Well, if it's a problem, I could get Scott or Stiles to come get him, if you know, y-y-you would be more comfortable with th-that" I sputtered awkwardly. With the freedom that our pack has, I never thought that getting Liam, whose parents were completely oblivious to the supernatural danger they were in, to go to a "party" on a school night, might be a little tricky.

"Liam!" He called over his shoulder, and turned his attention back to me, "I'm just messing with you." Liam rushed passed the older man and grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards the car. "Have him back at a reasonable hour." He laughed at the two of us.

"Yes sir!" I called back, sliding into the driver's seat. "What's with the haste, Liam?" I joked.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" his blue eyes went wide with panic, "it's just he can be a little embarrassing and I didn't want you to suffer through that."

"Please, after years of dealing with Melissa and the Sheriff, you're step dad was a piece of cake," I laughed, trying to get him to relax, but he didn't.

"Melissa and the Sheriff?" he fiddled with his seatbelt as I backed out the driveway.

"Uh, yeah Melissa McCall, Scott' mom, and Sheriff Stilinski, Stiles' dad," I plugged in the lake house to the GPS, "my mom's away a lot, so they've kinda taken me in as their own, and that includes embarrassment."

"So you're really close with, uh, Stiles, huh?" he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

I checked both ways and pulled out onto a busier street, "Yeah, we've been friends since we were born. My dad used to work at the station, sometimes, because he used to be the DA, so we've just kind of always been together. And then we met Scott when we started school, and the rest, as they say, is history."

"When did you become friends with Lydia?" he pried.

"Um, she moved here in third grade, and that's when I met her. We were close and then drifted apart in middle school. Ya know she got boobs and I got braces, but it was a mutual thing. Then we got close again sophomore. Now she's like the sister I never wanted." I giggled a bit and continued rambling, "Kira moved here last semester and we clicked immediately. I think she's so great. And Malia, she came to Beacon last semester too."

"Have you always been the lacrosse manager?"

"My freshmen year, I was always at their practices, and Coach likes me because I run cross country for him in the fall, so when he offered, I figured why not. It fits around my track schedule, and I'd be there anyway."

"You ever play?"

"Lacrosse? No, it was always the boys' thing. It's their time to bond and talk about girls, or cars or whatever it is that guys actually talk about. I mean I've practiced with Stiles sometimes, but it usually just ends but with him having to reteach me the right technique every time, so I'm not very good. But I've been talking for a long time without stopping so feel free to jump in at any point."

He laughed and rested his hand on my arm, gently squeezing it, "you're really funny, Em."

I cringed at the use of my nickname. Besides the few times Scott and Lydia used it, it was mainly Stiles' thing. It felt weird hearing it come out of another boy's mouth. While Liam is a sweet kid, it made me hyper aware of the fact that he still believed this is a date. He was completely unaware of the 'intervention' that was awaiting him. His hand was still uncomfortable resting on my wrist. I laughed awkwardly, but I'm almost positive it sounded like I was choking. I readjusted my grip on the steering wheel to not so subtly free myself from Liam's grasp.

He turned his body towards the window and I could hear his breathing become heavier. Thankfully, before anything could happen, I pulled into the driveway. "Well, here we are."

"Where is everyone else?" He gestured to the empty driveway, except for two cars and Scott's bike, and the dark house.

"Uh," I racked my brain for a plausible lie, "I had to get here early to help Lydia prepare. I hope that's okay."

His breathing was still ragged as we entered the house. I looked up to see everyone staring at us. Still nervous, I hurried over to stand by Stiles. I'm pretty sure Liam was close to his first transformation, and I felt guilty about yelling at Stiles. He was right, I would've called way more times if roles were reversed.

"Hey," I breathed quietly.

"You okay?" He said not breaking his eyes away from the beta.

"Fine," I bumped him with my shoulder, "thanks for checking on me."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "anytime. So truce?" He took his arm from around me and letting it drop by his side.

"Truce," I gave his hand a squeeze before turning my attention back to the problem at hand.

"So, Alpha, were coyote, Kitsune, Banshee," Liam pointed out the supernatural beings in the room, "then what are you two?" he asked turning to me and Stiles.

"Well, I was possessed by an evil Japanese spirit for a while."

"What are you now?"

"Better," Stiles gave Liam a quick thumbs up.

I smiled at Stiles' resilience. Not so long ago, we thought we were going to lose him, and here he was, healthy and joking about it. I reached for his hand again, before speaking. "We're just humans," I explained.

Suddenly headlights flooded the room, and the cheers of our fellow students could be heard outside.

"You said this was a party," Liam said shyly.

"Who did you tell?" I said frantically noticing that he and Malia were beginning to feel the effects of the moon.

"Just my friend Mason."

"And who'd he tell?" Scott asked, rolling his eyes.

I peeked out the window, "it looks like half the school's here. What are we gonna do?"

Stiles snapped his fingers, "Lydia, who throws the best parties in Beacon Hills?"

"Me," she added a small hair flip for dramatic effect.

Scott and Kira dragged Liam out of the room, while Stiles was working on getting Malia out, "Good, so throw a party," he yelled before disappearing to the basement.

"Great," I muttered as Lydia threw open the front door, and hordes of teens filled the house.


	10. He Loves Me Not

"Miss, is there someone I can call?" The officer's voice was far away. I was sitting on the porch of the lake house. I couldn't bring myself to focus on anything. I just sat there, arms wrapped around my body, staring through everyone. "Miss, can you hear me? Do you know anyone I can call?"

"I'll take it from here, Dan," my head snapped up at the familiar voice of the Sheriff. He sat down on the bench next to me. Putting his arm around me, "Emma, sweetie, are you okay?"

I looked up into his sympathetic eyes. I just shook my head and threw my arms around his neck. I began to sob violently, and he brought me into his chest rubbing my back. "I w-w-went out and his h-h-head was there and I screamed an-and I-"

"Sh, sh, Emma, it's okay, we can do this another time," He unwrapped an arm from me and motioned for someone behind me. He forced me to look up at him and wiped the tears from my face. "Honey, Stiles is going to take you to your house to get a few things, and you're going to stay with us for a while. Is that okay?"

I just nodded, unable to say anything. The man's head flashed through my mind and I snapped my eyes shut. "Emma, look at me," I could hear the worry in his voice as he rested his hands on my shoulders, "I just have to finish here and I'll be back at the house to check on you."

I just nodded and covered my face with my shaking hands. I couldn't get the image of the man's head out of my mind. "Stiles, don't let her out of your sight. She's in shock and," he sighed running a hand over his face, "just make sure nothing happens."

"Yeah Dad, of course, I'll take care of her," I heard Stiles say to his dad. He moved in front of me and crouched down to my level. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before deciding on, "let's get out of here."

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me up from the bench. My legs shook under my weight. I leaned on him, grabbing a fistful of his plaid shirt, as he guided us to his blue Jeep. I could hear him talking in the background but I was too focused on regulating my breathing to listen. We stopped in front of the car. He opened the door, "Em, please say something. Anything. You're scaring me."

Tears pooled in my eyes again, but I couldn't form words. It was like my brain refused to do anything but relive stumbling upon the beer guy's head. I just shook my head and climbed into the Jeep. When he finally hopped into the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition, I could finally string words together. "I'm not weak. I can handle this stuff you know." My voice shook and I couldn't bring myself to look at anything other than my hands that were currently in my lap. I picked at the silver nail polish as I waited for him to say something.

"Is that what you think? That just because you're scared, that makes you weak?" I answered his questions with a slight nod. "Emma, we're all scared. Hell, I'm scared all the time but that doesn't mean we're weak. Em, you're one of the bravest people I know. I mean look at you, you didn't have to be a part of this but you wanted to help. Ever since we told you after the first full moon, you've helped us so much. I couldn't do it without you." He took my hand in his as we continued on the road to my house, "So don't for one minute doubt yourself."

I unbuckled my seatbelt and moved to the middle of the bench seat. He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I let out a shaky sigh and tears fell onto his shirt, "I'm just so scared, Stiles."

"Hey, it's going to be okay, we're going to figure this out. Besides, you've got me to protect you so nothing's going to happen to you," he squeezed my shoulder. "But first, you've got to stop crying okay, hey look at me," taking his eyes off the road momentarily to make eye contact, "a girl like you is way too pretty to cry over something like this, okay? Just forget about the supernatural. Just forget about how scared you are, and celebrate the fact that tonight, you are hanging out with the most outstanding ice cream sundae maker in all of California."

He threw his blinker on, and pulled into the grocery store parking lot. A small smile spread across my face, as I watched Stiles choose a parking spot. Cutting the engine, he caught me smiling at him, "hey, there's that smile!"

I jumped out of the jeep and walked around to meet Stiles in front of it. He grabbed my hand, and with a squeeze said, "So, chocolate or vanilla?"

"Both!" I let out a little giggle as the automatic doors opened for us.

He laughed with me, "a girl after my own heart. I got the ice cream and whipped cream, and you get the toppings. We'll meet at the checkout okay?"

He looked at me, his hazel eyes widened with worry, "I'll be fine, Stiles," I muttered trying to convince myself just as much as him. He kissed the crown of my head and gave my hand a final squeeze before departing for the freezer aisle, "Caramel or hot fudge?" I called after him.

He whipped back around at the sound of my voice. "Both," he threw a wink my way and disappeared around the corner. Still smiling, I turned around, only to bump into another person, "I'm so sorr-"

"Emma Dunn, is that you?" A familiar voice. It was Mrs. Matthews, her and her husband used to live next door to me until they moved across town quite a few years ago. "Honey, look, its little Emma Dunn."

Her husband let out a throaty chuckle, "I doubt she's little anymore. Emma, how's it been?" The older gentleman stuck his hand out.

"It's been good sir, how are you guys doing?" I said politely, hoping this conversation would end. I zoned out during Mr. Matthews talking about their new house. I flashed back to earlier that night. The feeling of my shoe coming in contact with the severed head. Breathing became more and more difficult and I felt panic spreading through my body. I blinked a few times to get the image out of my head but nothing was working.

"Hey Em," Stiles returned to my side. He was holding a basket filled with ice cream in one hand, and grabbed my clammy hand in the other. I let out a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding, and Stiles gave my hand a light squeeze.

"You remember the Matthews', they used to live next door," Stiles let go of my hand to shake their hands, "And this is-"

"Stiles Stilinski," Mrs. Matthews smiled. Stiles let out a chuckle and his arm fell back at his side. I grabbed it so hard I swore I heard his bones crack. "I almost didn't recognize you. You kids have grown up so much." I saw her eyes drift to our connected hands, and her smile grew. "What a beautiful couple you two are. Aren't they David?"

My eyes widened to the size of golf balls, and my jaw just about hit the floor. "Yeah we always knew you kids would get together."

Stiles laughed along with them and I smiled uncomfortably, "Thanks sir, we get that a lot." That was true. Everyone used to ask us how long we had been dating. It started back when we were young. Everyone telling us how we're going to get married. I stood frozen, unable to speak. So I decided to, for once, let Stiles do the talking. "I'm a lucky guy."

"Okay kids, have fun and don't forget to invite us to the wedding," Mrs. Matthews' joked as they left us. I stood shell shocked, what had just happened, and why was Stiles perfectly fine with telling people we were dating when he had Malia?

"So let's go get those toppings?" Stiles pulled me along.

"Uh, yeah, the toppings," I stuttered. "But, wait what was that? We're dating now? I hope your girlfriend's okay with that," I spit out with an eye roll.

"Oh, that? Come on, it's nothing. We're never going to see them again, and what's the use of correcting them? They're not going to believe us anyway. Remember how it used to be?" He shook off my questions and loaded up the basket with all sorts of candy.

"Yeah I remember the way it used to be," I mumbled to myself.

I scooped the last of my melted ice cream into my mouth, as Stiles went on lacrosse. But I couldn't help but stare at him. The way his eyes lit up when he talked, the wild gestures he made when reenacted his shot. I couldn't help but smile at him. I'd never been the girl who let boys get to her. But Stiles was different, I couldn't get him out of my head, and it was beginning to drive me insane. He was the king of mixed signals. Flirting with me, but dating Malia, telling people we're dating, but we can't let anyone know he'd slept over my house. It was downright infuriating.

I put my empty bowl on his nightstand and shifted in his bed so I was facing him. I decided it was now or never. "Stiles?" I quietly interrupted his rant.

"Yeah, what's up?" He sat up straighter.

I took a deep breath, "Stiles, do you, yanno, _like_ me?" I froze, there was no going back now.

"Emma, what? What do you mean?" He sputtered and I could feel his eyes staring at me. I refused to meet his gaze.

"You know what I mean. Do you have feelings for me? More than platonic?" I further explained, knowing he was just putting off answering me.

"I do," he sighed, "but-"

"You like Malia more," I finished for him. I willed myself not to cry.

"Where is this coming from, Em?"

I let out a laugh in disbelief, "Stiles you know damn well where this is coming from!" I stood up from the bed. I threw my hands in the air, dramatically.

"What do you want me to say?" he jumped up too, "yeah Emma, I'm in love with you! Does that make you feel better?!" Stiles was yelling at me. This was new. Sure we'd had our share of fights, but he had never screamed at me before.

Finally I found my voice, "I don't want you to just say it. I want you to MEAN IT!"

"MAYBE I DO," he rubbed his face and let out a frustrated sigh, "but I have a girlfriend now! Why can't you be happy for me! You're going around flirting with FRESHMEN!"

"You think just because I flirt with one guy you can just screw the first girl that comes crawling out of the woods?!" My voice shook, but I was not backing down.

"Emma, that's not fair!" His voice echoed through the house, "You can't do this now! I'm happy with someone else!"

"You know what's not fair?" I stomped my foot like a two year old throwing a tantrum, "YOU KISSED ME AND SLEPT WITH SOMEONE ELSE!" His mouth fell open and he winced at the volume of my screech.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Sheriff Stilinski opened the door. In our screaming match we didn't hear his dad come in, but I would bet anything that Stiles dad heard every word.

"Uh, nothing," I wiped the tears from my eyes, "Stiles was just giving me his comforter so I could make a bed on the couch." I grabbed the navy blue comforter and Stiles' favorite pillow before muttering a goodnight and slamming the bedroom door behind me.

The Sheriff and his son stood awkwardly in Stiles' bedroom. "How much of that did you hear?" Stiles finally broke the silence.

"I got out of the car at the part where you said you loved her," the older man took a seat on the bed.

"We were that loud?" Stiles flopped down on his back next to where his dad was sitting.

"Mrs. Smith was out on her lawn ready to call the station about the domestic dispute. Stiles what happened? When you two left she could barely nod her head, and now you're screaming at each other?"

"Nothing that's the thing! We were at the grocery store and the Matthews' said we were a cute couple, and I thanked them. You know because it's just easier to do that than to explain that we're not dating. We got back here and all of a sudden she's asking if I like her, then yelling at me because I'm dating Malia," Stiles groaned in confusion.

"Screwing. I believed she yelled at you for screwing Malia," he gave his son a stern look.

"Oh, yeah well about that," Stiles sat up, "dad-"

"That's a talk for another time," he slapped a hand on his son's back, "so did you mean what you said?"

"What? About being in love with her?" Sheriff nodded, "I don't know if I'm in love with her. But I like her. She's been there for everything. Lately, when I'm with Malia, I wish she was Emma. I screwed up with her."

"Yeah, sounds like you've been a real ass."

Stiles scoffed, "Thanks dad, thanks a lot."

The Sheriff let out a little laugh, "Well, you really pissed her off. I thought the door was gonna come off the hinges."

"I guess I really messed up. What am I going to do?" Stiles shook his head.

"I don't know, but you need to figure it out. Quickly," he patted his son's knee and stood up from the bed. "I'm gonna go check on Emma. Night Stiles." He waved to his son and shut the door behind him.

I laid down on the couch, and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't like I had expected him to get down on one knee and propose, but I wasn't expecting him to totally reject me either. I thought we had something. But now all I have is his favorite pillow and a bruised ego.

"I don't know what to say to you," I jumped at the sound of Mr. Stilinski's voice. He was standing behind the couch and rubbed his neck awkwardly. It was a habit he shared with Stiles, and it made my heart hurt.

"I guess I should apologize. For all the yelling," I sat up, making room for him to join me.

"That's fine," he waved off my apology, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I let out a watery laugh, "I don't think so Sheriff."

"Oh Emma," he put a comforting hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry."

I tried to blink back the tears, "he's never yelled at me like that before. But I guess it's my fault. I brought it up. I promised myself I wouldn't make him choose between us, and I did," I looked up at him, "I just kinda hoped he would've picked me, ya know?"

He stared at me with sad eyes as I continued, "I would pick him, every time. I thought he felt the same way. But I guess she means more to him than I thought. I feel so stupid for thinking he actually cared about me." I let out a little cry before the Sheriff brought me into his chest. He rocked me back and forth, begging me to stop crying.

Stiles listened to their conversation from his perch at the top of the staircase. His heart broke for his best friend. He had no idea that he had hurt her this much. Deciding he couldn't listen to her crying any longer, he returned to his room. Emma had made him choose, but she was wrong about who he had picked.


	11. Boycotting the Supernatural

To say the next morning was awkward, would be a severe understatement. I woke up on the Stilinskis' couch with a kink in my neck and swollen eyes. I heard the voices coming from the kitchen, they were hushed, and I didn't know if they were trying not to wake me or make sure I wouldn't hear.

I rose up from the couch and tip toed to the kitchen door, just in time to hear the Sheriff say, "I'm not going to tell you how to fix it Stiles, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Melissa would be the one to ask. But I'd fix it fast."

Mustering up all the courage I could, I pushed the door open. I sent a forced smile at Mr. Stilinski and willed myself not to look at Stiles. "Good morning."

"Good morning Emma," his eyes darted between the two of us, "uh, Deputy Parrish brought your car back to your house. The keys are on the counter."

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Don't mention it, now I have to get to work, make sure you kids get to school," he exited the kitchen with a wave.

So there we were. I stood across the counter from him. I could feel his hazel eyes burning holes into my face. But I focused on picking at my nail polish and trying to get rid of the prickling of tears forming behind my eyes.

"Em,"

"I need you to bring me home. I need to be at school for practice soon," I cut him off.

"But Scott's coming over to talk about the dead pool," he argued.

I finally looked up at him with hard eyes, "I don't care."

He looked bewildered, "You don't care that all of our friends are on a hit list?"

"Stiles," I sighed, "of course I care about my friends. I, I just need a break."

He made a move towards me, but I backed up, "what a break from helping the people we care about?"

I ran a shaky hand through my hair, "a break from you."

"What does that mean? Em, you're…we're… I don't want you to leave."

"Stiles, please don't make this any harder on me. You made your choice so now I'm gonna make mine," I let out an uneven breath, "so please just bring me home."

"Fine," he spat moving past me to the door. I followed him into the blue Jeep.

He viciously backed out of his driveway. The car ride was tense. I wanted to break the silence. I wanted to fix everything. But I needed to let this play out. It wasn't healthy for me to want him anymore. He has his girlfriend and I have to accept that.

I picked at a loose thread of the sweatpants he let me borrow and almost threw up at the fact that I was still wearing his clothes. "I'll get these back to Scott or Lydia and they can give them to you."

"What?" His head whipped in my direction. His face lit up, clearly happy I had ended the freeze out.

"The clothes. They're yours."

Just like that, the happiness drained from his face and he turned back to the road, "you keep them. They're just clothes. I don't even wear them anyway."

"Oh," I said nearly silently. After what felt like hours, we pulled into my driveway.

I reached for the door, but he grabbed my arm, "Emma, please don't shut me out."

"Stiles," I sighed. "I can't be around you all the time. I can't watch you be so infatuated with her. I can't be constantly trying to survive, I just want to not be so scared and hurt all the time. So please let me go."

He loosened his grip on my arm, and I quickly pulled away from him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, grabbing the steering wheel with white knuckles.

I opened the door and hopped out. "I'll see you around, Stiles."

He nodded without looking over at me and I slammed the door.

I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the track ahead of me. I could feel the pain in my lungs as I sucked in air. My anger took over and made my legs move faster. I hate Malia. I hate Stiles for dating her. But I don't hate him and that made me hate myself. This anger just fueled me, pushing me to go faster.

I crossed the finish line, at the head of the pack, I mean team, "Nice work Dunn, you took thirteen seconds off." I heard Coach yell to me.

"Nice job Captain," I turned at the sound of someone's breathless voice. It was the co-captain of team, Caroline. She was a little taller than me, with ginger locks. At the moment, we were both hunched over, hands on our knees trying to regulate our breathing.

"You too, Captain," I smiled at her. We used to be really close, until the supernatural happenings completely took over my life. I missed her so much. And now by momentarily boycotting all things pertaining to werewolves, it was the perfect time to catch up with her.

"What's got you so angry today?" She asked, offering me her water bottle.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I smirked, taking the blue water bottle from her hand.

"Oh, come on, I know you. And you ran that workout like you're pissed at someone," she bumped my shoulder with hers, "so I'll ask again. Who's got your panties in a twist?"

I let out a short laugh, "Come on, Caroline," I looked out into the parking lot just in time to see the familiar blue Jeep pull into the parking lot.

"Ah," She said knowingly, "Boy trouble."

"Is it still boy trouble if he wasn't even my boy?" I asked plopping down on the turf.

She followed my lead and sat down next to me, "If I'm being honest, sometimes that's even worse."

"Ouch, thanks for the honesty," I smiled as she happily laughed at me. She had an infectious laughter, her blue eyes crinkled as she threw her head back. I couldn't help but join in.

"I missed you Emma," she wiped her eyes and her laughter slowly died out. "It's like you just dropped off the face of the Earth lately. I've been lost without my co-captain. I miss my friend"

I gave her a sad smile, "I missed you too. How about we spend lunch together?"

She checked her watch and sprung up, "Sounds like a deal." She reached out her hand and pulled me with her toward the school.

"Don't forget it's double session day! Practice at five too girls!" Our coach called after the team.

"It's good to have you back," she threw her arm around my shoulder.

"It's good to be back," I smiled at her as we entered the locker room.

I was switching my books at my locker before lunch. I had made all day without talking to Stiles and thanks to Caroline, my streak was going to continue into lunch period. Everything was going according to plan. She was down the hall grabbing her lunch and we were going to have a day to reconnect. It's so nice to be back in a semi-normal human life. Even if it's only been a few hours, I've missed not living in constant fear.

But there he was. Staring at me from his locker. I froze but kept my eyes focused on the inside of my locker. I watched him out of the corner of my green eyes. I saw as he said something to Scott, close his locker and head over towards me.

I panicked. Why did he have to do this? I just wanted to be alone. Well, to be honest, I missed him, but I can't be around him when trying to get over him. Did he really expect me to be over it in a few hours? He was just a few steps away when I felt someone's arm interlock with mine. I looked to my side to see Caroline. I smiled gratefully at her.

"Hey Stiles," she sent him friendly wave and smile.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded at her, "Caroline."

Before he could address me, Caroline spoke again, "Alright Cap, ready for lunch?"

"Totally," I gave Stiles a small smile as I left him standing at my locker.

"Alright, we'll talk later!" I heard him call after us. But I didn't answer him, I just let out a deep breath.

"You okay?" Her eyebrows furrowed together in concern.

"Fine, but let's not talk about him. Let's talk about what we're doing after practice,"

She let out a short laugh, "there's my girl!"

We walked into the cafeteria and I followed Caroline passed my usual table to another table. We sat down and I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. Caroline raised her eyebrows. With a mouthful of her turkey club, she finally asked, "So what's wrong with you and lover boy?" She tilted her head towards Stiles.

I expected her to ask. I had told Lydia this morning so she would be aware of why I was going MIA for a while. But to tell the story to an outsider, who didn't know about the supernatural, might be nice. She wouldn't tell me to suck it up for the benefit of the pack. This problem would mean something to her. Typical teenage drama would be a refreshing change from the life or death situations that I had gotten accustomed to.

"First of all, he's not my _lover boy_," I made a disgusted face and she giggled slightly. But I continued with my story, "So it all started like three months ago…"

Stiles sat with Scott at their usual table. He sighed in defeat as he watched Emma talking with Caroline, a few tables down. He fidgeted as he thought of what they could possibly be talking about. He would kill for supernatural hearing right now.

"Stiles, will you stop, you reek of anxiety," Scott hissed at his hyperactive friend.

"What do you think they're talking about? Do you think they're talking about me?" He saw Caroline gesture with her head in his direction, "they're definitely talking about me."

"Dude, you need to chill out." Scott rolled his eyes.

"Scott," Stiles leaned closer to the werewolf, "use your super powers and tell me what they're saying."

Scott just shook his head and continued to eat his lunch, "you know she hates that."

"Scott," Stiles begged, "please for me, I'm your best friend in the entire world. Please just do this for me. Pleeeeeeeeeas-"

"Fine!" Scott focused his hearing in on Emma's voice.

"And then he started yelling at me. Saying stuff like it isn't fair to do this…"

Scott cut off and returned his focus to their table. "So what are they talking about? Please tell me it's like track times or something. Please."

"Well, I only listened for a little while, but," Stiles stiffened in his seat, "they're definitely talking about you."

Stiles groaned. They had had a good amount of fights over the course of their friendship, but something about this one was different. It felt so final. He slumped down, letting his head fall into his arms on the table as the two girls broke out in laughter. Scott winced and patted his friend on the back.

"Wow, ditching you looks really good on her," Lydia commented as she slid into the seat next to Scott.

"Thanks Lydia, really that's perfect," he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. "She told you too?"

"Well, duh, I'm her best friend," Lydia stated the obvious.

"So what do I do to fix this?" he looked to the strawberry blonde for help.

She just sighed, "Stiles, remember how you felt when you had a crush on me?" He nodded awkwardly, they had never actually discussed his before. "Okay, well imagine what that felt like, but with actual feelings. You guys have been friends since you were in diapers. She knows everything about you. She cares about you so much, but you chose me and then Malia over her. Do you remember how awful you felt when I was dating Jackson? But it's different in this case. Because you aren't just some guy she sees in the hall, you're her…" she flailed her arms, searching for the right word, "um, her, you're her guy, Stiles."

"What do you mean?" He looked to Scott for help but he just shrugged, clueless.

She looked down at her PB&J sandwich and inspiration struck, "Okay, it's like this. She's jelly and you're peanut butter. PB&J are a great combination. They've been going together for years now, and everybody knows how great they are together. But then fluff comes in and suddenly peanut butter and fluff are paired together. But jelly doesn't really go with anything else, so she sits back and watches the werecoyote steal her peanut butter."

Scott just starts laughing, shaking his head at the pair. But Stiles slowly nods his head, "Yeah you're right, I gotta win her back."

Lydia nodded her head apprehensively, "But Stiles don't date her if you don't like her like she likes you. Please, she's in, well, she's really serious about you, and if you don't feel the same way, please don't do this to her, because I can't fix her if you break her like that."

So it was time for lacrosse, and I wasn't prepared for this. I wanted nothing more than to skip, but the opener was just days away and Finstock needs my help with the lineup. So I made my way onto the field. I kept my eyes locked on my white converse. So I really shouldn't have been surprised when I bumped into someone.

I teetered until a pair of large hands steadied me at the waist. I grabbed onto the stranger's forearms, to regain balance. Looking up, I began an apology, but I lost my voice when I realized who it was. I focused my eyes on the white number 24 on the maroon practice jersey. His hands fell from my waist and mine abruptly let go of his arms. "Didn't see you there," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry," I moved to brush past him, but his hand latched onto my wrist.

"Em, we need to talk," he said pulling me closer to him.

My eyes filled with tears, "please Stiles, not here. Not in front of everyone."

"Okay, then let me drive you home," he pleaded.

"Stiles, I drove to school and I have plans so you need to let me go," I struggled against his grip until he finally let my hand go.

"Em, I'm so sorry," he bit his lip.

"I know, me too," I ran a hand through my hair.

We stood there, staring at each other. I felt my chest tighten, and he began to wring his hands on his lacrosse stick. I opened my mouth, just as Coach came between us and blew his whistle, "Alright team, take a lap!" He turned to me, "You good Dunn? You don't look okay."

I wiped under my eyes and took a deep breath, "Never better Coach."


	12. Breakups, Hookups, and Makeups, Oh My

Stiles drummed his fingers on his lacrosse stick as he scanned the parking lot for her. He needed to talk to her. It had only been one day and he was already going insane. He tried to think of where it all went wrong.

He thought back to before he was possessed, but that seemed like a different world. The memory of the day they saved Malia was the last thing he could remember that felt normal. Well, normal may not have been the right word but honestly, when was the last time they'd actually had a normal life?

He threw the Jeep into park next to Allison's car and Scott followed in on his bike. He looked next to him and saw Emma taking a deep breath. He grabbed one of her hands that she was nervously rubbing on her shorts. "You okay?"

She laughed nervously, "This is dangerous. You saw Tate at the school the other day. If he catches one of us trying to help a coyote that he thinks killed his daughter," she turned to him with frantic eyes, "what makes you think he won't try to stop us?"

"Because it's us. No matter how much shit seems to come our way, we get through it." He squeezed her hand and her mouth curled into an unconvincing smile while not breaking eye contact with the dashboard

"You're right," she shook her head. But he knew she wasn't convinced, but there was no time now. They needed to save Malia.

"Let's go. They're waiting for us," she let go of her hand and they both jumped out of the car.

A few minutes after watching all their friends head into the words in search of the coyote, he was on the phone with Scott, letting him know that Malia was heading back to the car wreck.

"Stiles," Emma's fearful cry made him stop dead in the middle of his hostile voicemail. He whipped around to find her standing a few feet behind him. Her green eyes were filled with tears, her body rigid.

His eyes followed her body, checking for injuries. His concern turned to downright fear when he saw her left foot resting on one of the traps Mr. Tate had set up throughout the woods. "Shit," he whispered as he ran over to her.

She reached out to him, but he quickly stopped her, "Em, please don't move." He hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder.

A whimper escaped her lips as she shut her eyes. Letting out a shaky breath, she spoke, "Stiles look for a warning label. Instructions to disarm it."

"Why would there be a warning label?"

"Because animals can't read," she snapped and another cry echoed in his ears.

He dropped to his knees next to her. He looked up to see her hands shaking, then back down at the trap, knowing the fear would make it impossible for her to stand still much longer. He brushed back the leaves to find a red warning. Well, he assumed it was a warning label, but all the letters were jumbled. "Em, we have a problem. I can't read either."

A small sob escaped her lips, and he felt his heart in his throat. She calmly wiped a tear from her eye, "Stiles, you don't need directions. You're way too smart for that. I mean, when's that last time you even used them?" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Stiles, you're the one who always figures everything out. There's no one I'd rather have doing this than you. I trust you. You can do this. Stiles, figure it out."

The last part came out a little strangled, but he believed her nonetheless. Wiping a tear from his eye, he began to examine the trap. He grabbed on to the small wheel, preparing to turn it, and if he was right, it would give Emma just enough time to escape. He looked up at her one final time, "Ready?" She nodded and took a deep breath. "Go!" He turned the wheel and stood up to catch her.

Emma fell into his arms, her fingers clenched his biceps tightly. A second later, they heard the trap snap shut. She let out another shaky sigh and he was sure she was crying. He placed a hand on the back of her head and pulled her into him, mouthing a 'thank God' when he was sure she couldn't see.

She pulled back from and looked into his hazel eyes, her large green eyes still wide with fear. "Thank you," she whispered. "You saved me," this time she began to lean forward. His eyes darted down to her lips and then back up to meet hers, which he saw were staring at his lips. Just as her eyes fluttered shut, a loud growl echoed through the woods, causing Emma to jump away.

He snapped back to reality when he heard a car door slam shut. He watched her walk towards the gate to the track, completely unaware of him. On the jog, he followed her. When he was finally mere feet from her, he called out her name, "Caroline!"

She turned around, her nose scrunching up with confusion, "It's me, uh, Stiles." He said awkwardly, suddenly unsure of himself.

"I see that," she looked around nervously, as if she was afraid of getting caught with him.

"She's in the locker room," he explained, and Caroline just nodded.

"What's up Stilinski?" She asked while putting her curly red hair back in a ponytail.

"It's bad isn't it?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

She shook her head, "it's certainly not good. But I can't help you. I wouldn't know how. I know there's a lot more to all of this than what you guys say. I don't know what, but I'm not stupid, I know you're all dealing with something." She moved toward him, putting her hands on his shoulders, "but this is something you need to figure out. And fast, Stilinski."

He just sighed, and looked down at his feet. Stiles nodded, unable to meet her gaze. "Alright, I gotta go now, but promise me you'll fix this okay?"

As she walked away, he called out again, "Caroline?" She turned to him, expectantly, "Put in a good word for me?"

She just laughed and rolled her eyes, "I'm rooting for you, Stiles, always have been."

He let a short laugh, "Thanks." He waved to her, and headed back to the locker room just in time to hear a conversation he wish he didn't.

Emma had just changed into her track shorts and a BHHS track shirt. Checking her watch, she realized she had some time before practice started. She decided to fill up her water bottle at the hydration station outside the boys' locker room.

"Emma," she jumped at the voice. She turned around, screwing the cap back on her water bottle. "Oh, hey Liam. What's up?" She smiled at him.

"So you're getting ready for practice?" She just nodded and glanced up at him.

An awkward silence fell over them, "I'm sorry, but was there something you wanted Liam?" She said, not looking at him. She rummaged through her bag, putting her water bottle in the side pocket.

"Actually, there was," he took a step towards her and that caught her attention. "Are you busy after practice?"

"Well, actually, I," she started awkwardly.

"Because I know our date was kind of interrupted by the full moon, and I'd really like another shot." Her jaw fell slack. Did he really not know it was a set up to get him to the lake house? Did he think she had actually wanted to go on a date with him?

"Oh, Liam," she began.

"Do you have plans with Stilinski?" He asked, his cheeks flushing. And she couldn't decide if it was with embarrassment or anger.

"Well, um, no, but."

"Perfect. Come over around eight, then?" He looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"Sure," she sighed. Emma decided tonight that she would let the poor boy down easy.

"Great!" His eyes lit up and he leaned in. His lips grazed her cheek and he walked into the locker room, leaving Emma stunned.

She wiped off her cheek and turned to walk out to the track. She looked up to see none other than Stiles standing feet from her, shell shocked.

"Nice work in practice today," she said, breaking the tension filled silence.

He coughed loudly, "so you and him, huh?"

She rolled her eyes, "not that it's any of your business, but he still thinks that the lake house set up was me actually asking him out on a date. Besides, why do you care?"

"Em, I care because even though you probably hate me right now, you're still my best friend. Despite what you think, I care about you. A lot." He spoke quickly, afraid that at any moment she would bolt. He refused to let her go. Sure it had only been a school day without her, but he wanted her to know that he did care about her. As more than a friend, he was just confused.

"Practice is starting. I should go." She muttered, pushing past him.

"Em," he begged, just catching her hand.

"Don't." she spoke harshly as she ripped her hand from his. "Don't think that you can call me Em in that voice, and hold my hand. Don't think that you can give me that look and I'll forgive you. Just because it's worked before doesn't mean it's going to work now."

"Hey, I just want you to talk to me again. I just want you to know that I know I messed up and I'm going to fix this. I don't know how but I'm going to get you to not hate me anymore. I'm going to get it back to the way it used to be," she saw the determination in his eyes. And maybe she knew deep down that she was going to forgive him. Because watching him be with someone else was better than not being around him at all. But that didn't mean she was going to give up this easy, go crawling back to him after only a few hours. She was going to make him work for it. She wanted him to know that she wasn't just some girl on the side.

"Maybe you can't fix this one, Stiles. Maybe it can't go back to like it was before. This whole thing is just so screwed up, maybe," she let out a sigh.

"Maybe what?" He asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"Maybe it's not worth fixing." She whispered, playing with the strap of her sports bag.

"Don't say that, Em, come-" his voice broke slightly and he coughed, trying to cover it up.

"Look, I gotta go. You go find Malia. She's probably around the corner, listening to this whole thing. She won. That's okay. I'll go do this thing with Liam. And maybe one day we can," she wiped her eyes before the tears could fall.

"I'll be waiting for that day," he gave her a sad smile, and tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Goodbye Stiles," she returned his sad smile before running out of the school.

He stood there, watching the door close behind her. Just like that she was gone. His heart was beating hard in his chest and he blinked back tears.

"You love her," Malia's voice came from behind him. It wasn't a question or angry. It was like she was stating a fact. The sky is blue, the grass is green and he loved Emma. So Emma had been right. She was listening to the whole thing.

"Malia, hey. Where'd you come from?" He wiped his face before turning around to face her.

"I came to find you, but I saw you with her. I head what you said," She looked at her hands, frustrated, "She's it for you, huh? The one?"

"Malia," he argued.

"No I get it Stiles, you can like more than one person. It's like in that movie Lydia made me watch. Allie was gonna marry the army guy but she couldn't because she loved the guy with the beard. I get it. I'm the army guy and Emma's your beard guy."

"It's Ryan Gosling, not beard guy. And The Notebook? Are you honestly comparing us to The Notebook?" He let out a laugh.

"I guess so. But look I've known for a while this was going to end. I guess I just wish it didn't hurt so much," She leaned against the wall and slid down so she was sitting on the tile.

"If it makes you feel any better, she hates me. Looks like we're both going to be miserable for a while." He said joining her on the floor.

"She's a really lucky girl. She'd be stupid not to forgive you," Maila played with the rip at the knee of her jeans. "I know I've done this to your relationship. I know I've pushed her to this point. Part of me enjoyed that, knowing I had something she wanted. But yeah it does help a little knowing she's going to make you suffer."

"Wow, dumped by two girls in one day, ouch." Malia let out a little laugh and shook her head at the boy next to her.

She stood up, "I'm gonna stay at Scott's tonight. He's got that extra room now that that Isaac guy is gone." She brushed the dust off the butt of her pants. "Thank you Stiles. For everything. You were a great first boyfriend."

Stiles smiled, "Thanks, you were too," Then realizing what he said, "Girlfriend, I meant you were a great first girlfriend."

"You're an idiot," She rolled her eyes at him. "See ya later Stiles."

"Yeah see ya, Malia." He waved after her.

Emma played with the hem of her skirt. She sat in the passenger seat of Caroline's car. The girls had spent the two hours after practice at Emma's house going over the possible ways to end this non-existent relationship with Liam. "Relax, will you? You know what you're going to say. It's going to be fine. You're going to tell him it was all a misunderstanding and you're going to part as friends, and you already said his dad was going to give you a ride home."

"You're right," Emma nodded.

"I know," She said as she put the car into park. They had arrived at Liam's house. "Alright, it's show time. Knock 'em dead, girl."

Emma turned to her friend, with a smile on her face. "Thanks Caro, you're really amazing, you know that right?"

"Hey don't sell yourself short. You're pretty amazing too. So go on in. And don't forget, I'll pick you up tomorrow so you can tell me all about it."

Emma leaned over the center console and pulled her friend into a hug. "Seriously, thank you. And I don't mean for just today. I mean for being this awesome friend even though I was the shittiest friend."

Caroline squeezed her shoulders, "you're not the _shittiest_ friend. You've been dealing with some stuff. I get that. But freeze me out again and I might not be so understanding. Now go."

"See you tomorrow." Emma called, jumping out of the car and heading up to the front door.

She didn't know how it happened, but there they were. Her shirt was somewhere on his floor and he was on top of her, his lips on her neck, her hands in his hair. Well, that was a lie, she knew exactly what got them there. He had brought up Stiles. He'd brought up how they were never going to be together. And maybe it was her thing to just be attracted to guys that hurt her, or maybe she just wanted to prove to him that there was more to her than Stiles. But she had grabbed his neck and kissed him.

But she didn't want this anymore. It didn't feel right. She didn't want her first time to be with a freshmen in a room with a poster of girl in a bikini staring at her. This isn't what she came here to do, it was actually the exact opposite. "Liam," she said, her hands finding their way to his chest.

He moaned as she tried to push him off her. But he wasn't listening to her. His hands were trailing down her hips. She pushed harder when he began to pull at the waistband of her skirt. "Liam, seriously, stop!"

He gripped her hip harder, she cried out in pain, afraid she was going to bruise. "LIAM!"

Her screamed echoed throughout the empty house. It stopped him dead. "What's wrong, Em?"

"Don't call me that. Stiles calls me that," She said crawling out from underneath him.

She got off his bed and located her shirt. She tried to turn the loose fitting crop top right side out but it was hard to do with shaking hands. "Seriously, you don't even like him. Last I head, you weren't even friends with him. So who cares?" He moved closer to her. His hands grabbed at her hips again and he tried to kiss her.

She pushed him away again, "Liam, stop I don't want this."

"You started this," his hands put more and more pressure on her skin. She looked down and saw his fingernails stretching into claws. She winced in pain. Yep, definite bruising.

She swiped at his hands, and threw her shirt over his head. "Yeah and now I'm ending it. I shouldn't have led you on like that. But I don't like you like that, you're just a freshmen, I wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry." She said coldly.

Before she could even process that his eyes were turning yellow, his hand was already striking her face.

Almost as quickly as it had happened, he was already apologizing. She knew it was the werewolf in him, she knew he hadn't learned to control the anger and shift yet. Hell, even the true alpha himself had tried to kill her and Stiles once or twice. But no boy had ever hit her before. Her eyes welled up with tears, "Go to hell," she spat viciously, grabbing her purse. She stormed out of the house, but quickly realized that she lived on the other side of town. She could hear Liam on the porch behind her, calling out, still apologizing.

She dug through her purse, finally pulling out her phone. With fumbling fingers, she called the only person she could think of.

"Hello?"

She let out a hysterical sob, finally letting the tears fall, "I'm at Liam's. Can you come pick me up? I did something really stupid."

"I'm two minutes away," She heard over her sobs.

"Thank you."

She stood on the sidewalk, facing the street. "Emma, please at least wait inside. You're going to freeze out there."

"Shut up," she cried. "Just shut up!"

"I'm sorry," he said lamely. He refused to leave her alone and she refused to go back into house. So he just stood in the doorway and watched her wait for her ride.

Speaking of her ride, she saw the glow of headlights. Suddenly there was a blue Jeep, going well over the 35 mph speed limit, coming up the road. It was barely stopped before Stiles was running towards her. "Em, are you okay?"

He cupped her face in his hands, inspecting her. She sucked in air, the cheek that Liam had slapped still stung. Her cheek must still have been red, because suddenly his eyes narrowed angrily. "He hit you?"

"Stiles, please," she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. He looked down at her and he just seemed to get angrier. His hands lifted the white fabric of her shirt to her rib cage. She looked down to see what he was doing, she watched as his long fingers feathered over the purple finger-shaped bruises already forming on her hips.

He moved past her and she lost her grip on his flannel shirt, "What the hell did you do to her?!" He shouted quickly moving up the sidewalk towards the house. He took the porch steps two at a time. Before Liam even had time to explain, Stiles swung. His fist connected with Liam's face with a loud crack. Grabbing the collar of Liam's shirt, he shoved him against the doorway, "Touch her again and I swear to God, Liam, I'll-"

"Stiles," Emma's voice was small. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing on the porch steps. Her arms were wrapped around herself and looking at him, her eyes still wide in fear. "Let's leave. Please?"

He released his grip on the beta, "Stay away from her," he threatened once more. Carefully, he laced his fingers with hers and pulled Emma towards the Jeep.

It was silent in the car as they turned off Liam's street. "Where do you want to go?"

"Let's go home Stiles," Emma barely whispered. The blonde was still trying to regulate her breathing.

"Yeah," he nodded, "You probably want to be alone."

"I meant your house, Stiles." Her hand moved to the gear shift where his right hand gripped it with white knuckles. She rested her hand on top of his, squeezing it gently. His hand turned his hand to interlock their fingers. "And just so you know, this doesn't mean I forgive you," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Believe me I know," He squeezed her hand back, a smile playing at his lips.

**Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update but I've been really busy at school. I hope I made it up to you by making this one longer than usual. As for Liam, don't worry, he's not a bad guy but I do believe his struggle with anger and the bite wasn't showcased nearly enough in the show. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Reviews and constructive criticism/ideas are always welcomed. **


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